November 1997 Topics - Page 2
Crazy Glue Fuming, Acronymphobia, Blamestorming, Confabulation,
Lemon Laundering, Mail Reflector,
Sacred Cow, Scienter, Spam,
Spinning Windies, Vet, and White Money
 

 
A fish bowl, a light bulb, a dish of water,
and super glue can make finger prints appear.
 

Fraud In Other Words
Professional Jargon and Uncensored Street Slang
by Larry C. Adams, CFE, CPA, CIA, CISA

 

Crazy Glue Fuming
A process which uses adhesive agents to develop latent fingerprints on difficult surfaces, such as plastic bags or plastic tape. In a laboratory, the plastic evidence is placed in a glass fuming chamber, about the size of a ten gallon fish tank. The sealed chamber contains a light bulb, a dish of water, and part of a tube of super glue. The process uses the heat from the light bulb, the humidity from the water, and the cyanoacrylate ester from the glue to make fingerprints appear with a white ridge detail. The print becomes visible within 5 to 15 minutes.
Charles R. Swanson, Neil C. Chamelin, and Leonard Territo, Criminal Investigation, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1988, p. 81, 82.
Photo: Lawrence Chow, "Lifting Fingerprints with Powders and Chemicals," Bronx Science, http://www2.bxscience.edu/publications/
forensicbio/articles/fingerprinting/images/superglue.jpg, 2001.

 

Acronymphobia
The fear of not understanding all the different acronyms used in business, in the media, or on the streets. Some persons may not understand a speaker or a writer when too many unfamiliar acronyms or cryptic words are used in a conversation or a report. Some persons feel a sense of panic or inadequacy. An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of a string of words. Examples: CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner), WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), NQ (Not Qualified).
Arizona Fraud Line, Phoenix, September 1994.

 

Blamestorming
Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.
Information Week, Sept. 15, 1997, p. 10.

 

Confabulation
Talking and filling in memory gaps with fictitious events. The speaker or witness accepts the falsifications as correct.
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Gramercy Books, New York, 1989, p. 307.

 

Lemon Laundering
A fraudulent practice in which auto manufacturers or dealerships repurchase defective cars (lemons) and later put them back into the stream of commerce with no disclosure of their previous lemon status.
Arizona Fraud Line, Phoenix, March 1996.

 

Mail Reflector
A special e-mail address. Electronic mail sent to this address is automatically forwarded to a set of other addresses. The procedure is like a blind box for a classified advertisement in a newspaper. Also it is similar to a telephone’s call forwarding feature. To delay detection, fraudsters may use a series of mail reflectors to hide their identity or their actual location.
Arizona Fraud Line, Phoenix, June 1995.

 

Sacred Cow
An idea, person, group, or institution considered exempt from questioning or even justified criticism. They may be popular, held in high esteem, or protected for other reasons. However, when an opportunity exists to commit fraud, even a scared cow and its supporters might take advantage of the situation. (In India, Hindus believe cows are sacred and protected. Even among castes that are not vegetarian, beef is not eaten.)
Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Gramercy Books, New York, 1989, p. 1259.

 

Scienter
Knowledge of a falsity. The defendant had previous knowledge of the facts which led to, or caused, injury to another party. An accountant may be held liable for disseminating false statements. Acting with reckless regard for the truth.
Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minnesota, 1979, p. 1207.

 

Spam
Mass delivered, unsolicited commercial e-mail. Spam includes unrequested and unwanted advertisements for everything from illegal pyramid schemes to pornography. The messages annoy computer users by tying up computer processing, using false return addresses, or mimicking legitimate business. The Federal Trade Commission conducted hearings on unsolicited commercial e-mail and reaffirmed its commitment to stamp out fraudulent practices. Some Internet Service Providers (ISPs) check incoming messages for nonexistent return addresses (pinging). Computer users adopted the word Spam, which is a trademark for canned loaf meat, commonly available in World War II.
“Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam,” AOL News, August 21, 1997.

 

Spinning Windies
Telling tall tales of lies. According to Mark Twain, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes!” “If we tell the truth, we don’t have to remember anything.” “One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that a cat has only nine lives.”
Mark Twain, "Roughing It,". http://www.hannibal.net/marktwainmuseum/
index.html. Photo: www.pbs.org/marktwain/ learnmore/activities.html

 

Vet
To appraise, verify, or check for accuracy and authenticity. For example, press releases and faxes from drug companies are FDA-vetted to verify the data is not misrepresented. The Food and Drug Administration sanctioned a manufacturer of anti-HIV drugs for misleading statements, omitting telling details, and implying that limited test tube pilot study results were representative of tests on people.
“Profound Grief,” POZ, September 1997, p. 33.

 

White Money
Funds that have been illegally obtained by a politician, then laundered to conceal their origins.
Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner, Dictionary of American Slang, Second Edition, Thomas Y. Cromwell, New York, 1975, p. 756.

 

ã Copyright 1997 Larry C. Adams.
All rights reserved.
 

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