Computer Fraud Casebook: The Bytes that Bite - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470278145 ISBN 13: 9780470278147

Verlag: Wiley, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

This one-of-a-kind collection consists of actual cases written by fraud examiners out in the field. These cases were hand selected from hundreds of submissions and together form a comprehensive picture of the many types of computer fraud how they are investigated, across industries and throughout the world. Topics included are email fraud, on-line auction fraud, security breaches, counterfeiting, and others.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Joseph T. Wells, CFE, CPA, is the founder and Chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Mr. Wells writes, researches, andlectures to business and professional groups on fraud-related issues and is frequently quoted in the media. He was the 2002 winner of the Innovation in Accounting Education Award presented by the American Accounting Association (AAA), and he was named to Accounting Today magazine's annual list of the "Top 100 Most Influential People" in accounting for nine years in a row.

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Praise for COMPUTER FRAUD Casebook

The Bytes that Bite

"This is an excellent resource for practitioners and academics alike who wantto learn from an inside look at real-world computer fraud investigations."

- James Bierstaker, Villanova School of Business

"Well's collection of case studies is an easy read and appropriate for both anti-fraud professionals and business executives charged with the responsibility of fraud prevention within their organizations." Bruce A. Dean, JD, CFE, CPP, Regent Emeritus and former chairman, Board of Regents, ACFE

"Mr. Wells has done it again! Like a computer program, he consistently uses his inherent abilities to filter complex fraud schemes, as written by those who found them, into simple truths complete with prevention and detection techniques. As the world becomes more digital by the day, anyone seriously interested in fighting fraud will need to equip themselves with the appropriate tools, and the Computer Fraud Casebook provides a perfect road map for this journey."
Richard B. Lanza, CFE, CPA, PMP, President, Cash Recovery Partners, LLC

"Mr. Wells' latest is a must for anyone who wants to learn how to fight crime in the digital age. Fraud examiners and investigators who don't develop their skills in this field will soon be left behind!"
Walt W. Manning, Director, AlixPartners, LLP

42 real-life case studies reveal the underbelly of computer fraud

Today's businesses are completely reliant on technology.The bad part about computers is that they enhance fraudsters' abilities to carry out their costly and nefarious schemes. The good part is the very computers used to carry out these crimes can also help solve them. Spanning e-mail fraud, online auction fraud, security breaches, counterfeiting, and much more, Joseph Wells' Computer Fraud Casebook is packed with forty-two real case studies, written by the ACFE members who investigated them. Outlining how each fraud was engineered, how it was investigated, and how the perpetrators were brought to justice, Computer Fraud Casebook empowers readers with the knowledge and skills to detect and prevent cyber fraud.

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Computer Fraud Casebook

In 1995, computer fraud took down England's oldest bank. In 1996, Omega Engineering Company lost over $10 million to one disgruntled employee's computer fraud. In 2001, two Cisco Systems employees stole $8 million in computer stock option refunds through computer fraud. And technology experts and professional crime fighters predict that computer crime will continue to explode in the coming years. Brimming with these and other astonishing real-life case studies written by the ACFE members who investigated them, Computer Fraud Casebook reveals how vulnerable all businesses are to fraud and offers investigation and prevention guidance to stop cyber-thieves in their virtual tracks.

Gone are the days when a small business might lose only a few thousand dollars to fraud. Today, computer fraud costs companies and consumers billions of dollars. In cyberspace, the fraudster has morphed from a hapless rip-off artist into a clever, diabolical techno-thief with the ability to steal and destroy on a grand scale around the world. High-tech criminals can obliterate records, bankrupt companies, steal money, cheat consumers, rob identities, and cause unprecedented havoc, often with a single click of the mouse.

Author Joseph Wells, founder and Chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners the world's leading anti-fraud organization provides readers with an understanding of the scope and complexity of computer crime. Focusing on cases committed in the workplace, Wells introduces the scam methods and techniques that were unheard of just a few years ago. His comprehensive compilation forms a clear picture of the many types of computer fraud out there including e-mail fraud, online auction fraud, security breaches, and counterfeiting and how they were investigated across industries and throughout the world. Once fraud occurs, recovering the victim's money is difficult, if not impossible. The forty-two case studies in Computer Fraud Casebook reveal how and why prevention is the number-one goal of theanti-fraud specialist.

From their rise to success through their cunning and diabolical schemes to their eventual capture and downfall, Computer Fraud Casebook is full of amazing stories of the investigators' dedication, skill, and intelligence to uncover fraudsters and put an end to corruption. From these stories, auditors, controllers, IT managers, investigators, law enforcement professionals, fraud examiners, clients, employers, managers, consumers, students virtually anyone with a computer will discover a wealth of resources available to snare criminals and, even more importantly, prevent fraud from happening in the first place.

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Computer Fraud Casebook

The Bytes that BiteBy Joseph T. Wells

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2009 Joseph T. Wells
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-27814-7

Chapter One

Just What the Doctor Ordered

GEORGE KYRILIS

By his mid-twenties, Cory Steele was already well-known on the Internet as one of the top ten spammers in the world. The golden-haired entrepreneur from Minnesota started writing software programs for distributing spam when he was just 15. He circulated his product throughout the globe in exchange for half the spammers' profits. This business venture earned him so much money that he dropped out of high school. When his father objected, Cory replied, "Dad, I made $69,000 online by 11 a.m. today."

The rebellious teenager spent his time sharpening his computer and online expertise. Once he paid five thousand dollars for a Russian computer programmer to fly to Minnesota and give him a one-day lesson. Cory began pedaling human growth hormones, penis enlargement pills, and other fake supplements online. He used the anonymity of the Internet to conceal his true identity and take advantage of gullible customers willing to buy his "pixie dust." Anyone was fair game as long as there was money to be made.

Shortly after his 24th birthday, Cory ventured into his most lucrative Internet scam-selling prescription drugs. With the help of Betsy Hartman, a computer programmer known as the "spam queen," he set up an illegal online pharmacy. The scheme made him a wealthy man. Before he turned 25, Cory was a multimillionaire. He bought a $1.1 million home in cash and added a Ferrari Spyder, Mercedes Benz C55AMG, and Lamborghini Murcielago to his collection of foreign cars.

Cory was obsessed with affluence, but his most prized possession was his artificially enhanced trophy wife, Amber. He often spied on her. Even though Cory frequented strip joints and had a dancer named Christie Kelly as a mistress, he expected Amber to remain faithful. He was insecure with their relationship and controlled her to the point of abuse. She was the one possession he couldn't stand to lose.

Fear and suspicion consumed Cory's life. Once when an officer came to serve court documents, he hid in a closet with his four-year old son, telling him that the police were bad and would hurt him. He protected his money and fleet of vehicles by constantly transferring safes full of cash and his luxury vehicles from one storage facility to another. Cory used disposable cell phones to avoid electronic eavesdropping. He had 24 cameras at the office watching his employees every hour of the day. They were required to walk through metal detectors where security guards, led by Cory's heavyset enforcer and confidant, Randy Mesher, confiscated their cell phones.

In spite of all his wealth, Cory failed to overcome his own weakness. He was addicted to Xanax, a prescription drug for anxiety. His addictive nature made him extremely erratic. He often had emotional outbursts. People were frightened by his unpredictable behavior, which was compounded by the fact that he brought a 9 mm pistol to work every day.

Cory originally established Advanced Express Systems as a billing company to facilitate online sales for his spammed products. But after realizing that it could be used as a marketing tool for his primary pharmacy operation, SwiftRX.com, he developed it into a call center employing more than 100 telemarketers working around the clock to sell prescription drugs. Next, he established another Web site, www.directdiscountdrugs.com, which served as the core for his online pharmacy operation by processing orders for customers of SwifteRX and connecting with a doctor to approve orders.

Pills and Abuse

I was a special agent with the FBI and assigned to the Minnesota Cyber Crimes Task Force in Minneapolis, a squad of highly trained agents from the FBI and U.S. Secret Service dedicated to investigating a multitude of computer-related crimes. After working white-collar crime investigations for most of my 28 years of duty, I decided that cybercrime would make a challenging finale to my career. This case, my last FBI investigation, proved to be my most fascinating and rewarding.

One frosty day in late November, I got a phone call from a colleague who had received a complaint regarding Cory. A tenant in the same building as Advanced Express Systems had grown suspicious of the operation. He had noticed several limousines in the parking lot that the employees used as break rooms. Many of Cory's workers were disorderly and disturbed others in the building. We later found out that quite a few had been recruited from a halfway house and were former felons. The curious tenant had seen the baby-faced entrepreneur arrive at work in a $300,000 Mercedes Maybach, driven by a chauffeur. Puzzled, he searched the Internet and discovered that Cory was named on several antispam Web sites as one of the world's most prolific spammers. He learned that several people who bought prescription drugs from his Web site, SwifteRX, complained about being overcharged and never receiving their orders.

I ran a Google search on Cory and discovered more information about his nefarious online activity. He had been linked with a group of individuals who hijacked IP (Internet protocol) net blocks to commit billing and credit card fraud, send spam, and launch attacks against spam opponents and Internet service providers (ISPs). A Whois (a domain search engine) check on www.swifterx.com revealed that it was registered with an ISP in Switzerland and had a United Kingdom business address-a dead end. Using a covert computer, which cannot be traced back to law enforcement, I visited the Web site. It offered a multitude of generic drugs available for sale without a prescription. SwifteRX claimed it had a network of doctors and pharmacies throughout the United States. The customer's patient history and an FDA-approved online questionnaire were said to be reviewed by these supposed physicians to approve prescriptions. SwifteRX would not accept any health insurance. Only major credit cards and COD payments were accepted and FedEx delivered the medication. I immediately opened an investigation on Cory's credit card fraud and spamming activity.

A few weeks into the case, Special Agent David Flynn of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division called regarding allegations that Cory was potentially involved with a money laundering scheme. We began working together. David was a meticulous investigator, one who accounted for every single dollar. He and I identified several former and current employees who were fed up with Cory's continual sexual harassment and appalling conduct at the office. They claimed he belittled them and would fire anyone without reason. He was even said to have used a taser gun on them to test their threshold for pain, laughing until they succumbed.

We learned from his employees that Cory was making millions of dollars through his online pharmacy business. The top sellers were painkillers, usually hydrocodone-based drugs such as Vicodin and Norco. Customers were provided with an online questionnaire to describe medical symptoms, self-prescribe their own drugs, and place an order. For painkillers, clientele rated their level of discomfort on a scale of 1 to 10. If their threshold did not link with their desired dosage, telemarketers coached customers to increase their pain level. It was confirmed that the call center used the Web site for Direct Discount Drugs to place orders. A Whois check on...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Wiley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0470278145
• ISBN 13: 9780470278147
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 440
• Herausgeber: Wells Joseph T.
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Wiley-VCH GmbH; product_safety@wiley.com; ; Boschstrasse 12; Weinheim; 69469; Deutschland