Archive for April, 2010

26
Apr/101

The Embezzler. James M. Cain. Avon Book Company, 1946. A Great Read!

I found this great book on employee embezzlement and bought it on-line.  Used, it cost me a few dollars.  The title – “The Embezzler.”

What a great book.  It is a simple story of a bank employee embezzling from the bank customer’s savings accounts, and how a superior bank employee discovers the theft.

What made this book and story interesting enough for me to start and finish it in one night, 160 pages, something I never do, is that the scheme and the details around the scheme, including how it was detected, quantified and supported, is as applicable to day as it was when this was first written, in 1936.  Just another example of how fraud really hasn’t changed over time.

The setting is interesting, being 1936, but the writer had accurate details on how this would have occurred, perhaps with the assistance of a subject expert at that time.  I may never know, given the age of the story, but substitute any one of my on-going existing embezzlements into this story, and I can see it still working as it did back then.

If the field of embezzlement and fraud is one that interests you, I highly recommend you read this book, if you are fortunate to find a copy still available.

A movie was produced in 1940 based on the book, called “Money and the Woman.”.  Here is a link talking about the book and movie:

http://booksintofilms.com/support-files2/cain4.htm

The Embezzler.  James M. Cain.  Avon Book Company, 1946.

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18
Apr/103

USB Jump Drives – Friends or Foes?

They are found virtually everywhere, and they can be easy to spot, like the classic USB stick drive, or they can be hidden within other objects, such as within pens, nick knacks, desktop items and even jewelry.

While convenient for transporting files home to work on, or for sharing files and photos with friends, these USB drives pose a serious risk for employers. Ill-willed employees could simply copy confidential files, such as client lists, trade secrets, employee information o even the accounting files, right onto a concealed USB jump drive, and take the information with them.

Company policies should state that all company information is proprietary and remains the property of the company. No personal possession, copying, transferring, or downloading is permitted for any reason. All employees should be required to sign both a confidentiality agreement as well as an acknowledgment for receiving the company’s policies regarding company information. The signing of the forms will act both as a deterrent as well as allow for enforcement in the event company information is diverted.

USB jump drives should be prohibited, and the company’s IT policies and procedures should ensure that all files are regularly backed up. Using USB jump drives as a permanent backup solution will cause you headaches when the drives fail, and they do fail at a high rate when used frequently.

If needed, the USB ports on employee computers can be disabled, preventing employees from making illegal copies of company information via USB.

If you don’t know what these drives look like, or worse in what objects these drives are available (concealed), you should spend a few minutes searching images on the Internet – you will be amazed where these drives are turning up.

Protect your company’s valuable assets.

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15
Apr/100

Keeping Up With Embezzling? Shop at Staples!

In the movie “Men In Black” (MIB) staring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D’Onofrio, there is a scene where they visit a newsstand to collect the recent tabloids.  Kay (Jones) tells Smith that the tabloids are what they use to keep track of the aliens living on the planet. He makes a reference to Elvis, and tells him he isn’t dead, he simply returned to his home planet.

If you want to remain current in the world of employee embezzlement, I suggest you develop a similar routine to keep up with the latest developments.

I am amazed that some types of employee thefts, tried and true for years on end, continues to plague employers in this day, especially when they are very well known and very basic schemes.

My routine involves shopping at Staples, although any office supply store would suffice.  It is there that you will learn the latest types of pens, inks and other office supplies that can be used by an ill-willed employee to steal from the company.

The latest is the revival of the erasable ink pens.  There simply is no place for erasable ink pens (or pencils) in the accounting department of any employer.  For example, checks manually prepared using erasable ink pens can be altered after they are signed – the thefts are just that easy.  This is why you need to know what these pens look like, and scream if you see your staff using them.

Pilot’s “Frixion” are the latest rage.  The ink can be removed by friction.  Simply use the rubber end of the pen and erase off the writings.  There is no place for these in the finance and bookkeeping offices.  You need to know what they look like, and ensure they are not being used.  Better still, never have manual checks altogether – insist all checks are computer generated from your accounting system.

What the Frixion package does not tell you is that the ink is also thermostatic ink (reacts to temperature).  If you write with the pen and heat up the area where you wrote, the ink will go transparent.  Once cooled, the ink will re-appear.  Fun for a science project, and for ensuring a document is the original, but no place for this in accounting.

I encourage you in your battle against employee fraud to visit your local office supplier on a regular basis, to watch for the latest items.

Watch for my next post – USB Jump drives.

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