Criminal Investigation chapter 17

Who would be the most likely victim of a home repair scam?

Connie, a retired accountant, recently widowed and living alone in a nice and quiet neighborhood. Elderly people are prime targets for such scams because many of them own their own homes, and many of those are older homes in need of repair.

Who is most likely to be involved in a white-collar crime?

Connor is a supervisor at a local bank. He oversees all the employees and manages the various transactions of costumers. Thus, he has access to most of their personal information. Connor has attained a prestigious position at his bank. He has direct access to the customer's personal information and finances, and is in a position that would enable him to commit a white-collar crime.

Which of the following is a white-collar crime that is easy to commit with minimal chances of apprehension and punishment? It is considered an ideal entry-level crime from which people may graduate to more serious offenses.

Credit card fraud. At the most basic level this fraud is easy to commit, and the chances of apprehension and punishment are minimal. Thus check and credit card fraud is an ideal entry-level crime from which people may graduate to more serious offenses.

Christine, an intern in the cybercrime section of the police department, is storing magnetic tapes and disks as evidence for an ongoing computer crime investigation. What should she do to ensure that data from the evidence are not destroyed?

Make sure these items are not exposed to magnetic fields, such as stereo speakers.Magnetic tape and disks must be handled with care. This type of evidence is also easily destroyed by exposure to magnetic fields such as stereo speakers and printers

Lionel is an executive for a major trading company who works mostly from home. One day, he received a call from someone who said they were calling from his company's headquarters. The caller explained to Lionel that the computer system was being reformatted and that all systems connected to their main server needed to be worked on by an IT professional. Trusting the caller, Lionel gave them the password to operate his system. Two days later, Lionel was informed that numerous transactions were made from the company's business account without his knowledge, resulting in large losses for the business. What form of computer crime was this?

Masquerading. Masquerading is one of the most difficult forms of computer crime to prove after the case goes to trial. It is the process of one person assuming the identity of an authorized computer user by acquiring items, knowledge, or characteristics.

Ron, a high school senior, is a computer programmer but not an accomplished student. With a dream of getting into an ivy league university, he used his skills to break into his school computer system and alter his grades. Which type of criminal is Ron?

Hacker. A hacker is a computer programmer who explores, tests, and pushes the computer to its limits, regardless of the consequences. Many large corporate computers are "hacked" not as a prank but as a target of large-scale theft.

Which form of computer crime evidence must be "parked" before being moved to avoid destroying information in the disk?

Hard drive. If there is a hard drive, it should be "parked" before being moved to avoid destroying information contained on the disk.

Which term refers to the process of concealing or disguising the proceeds of a crime or converting those proceeds into goods and services?

Money laundering. Money laundering involves concealing or disguising the proceeds of a crime or converting those proceeds into goods and services. It allows criminals to infuse money obtained illegally into the stream of

Which of the following is true of corporate crime?

Motivations for corporate crime include gaining or increasing power or realizing personal wealth by mishandling funds. There are a number of motivations to engage in white-collar crime. However, greed and power are most salient.

Matt is a computer programmer wishing to gain access to his employer's computer system from home. He believes he has found a way to steal overtime hours from his coworkers to increase his pay. To do this, he inserts a debugging aid that breaks the security codes in the employer's computer. He then inserts a new code of his own, which enables entry into his employer's program. What technique did Matt use?

Trap door. Trap doors are often used to acquire access to victim computers in order to enter false data.

Which term refers to secretly placing or altering computer instructions so that the computer will tell another computer how to perform illegal functions?

Trojan Horse. The Trojan horse is the secret placement or alteration of computer instructions so that the computer will tell a second computer how to perform illegal functions.

Which statement is true of white-collar crime?

White-collar crime is not an official crime category.According to the Bureau of Journal Statistics (BJS), white-collar crime is not an official crime category, but it represents a unique area of criminality that differs from other categories of criminality, such as violence and property crime.

Emilio and Sue, both public school teachers, were confident that they would retire comfortably in the suburbs after investing their life savings. However, they invested it into what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme. Emilio and Sue learn that they are not alone, and that many people were affected, losing substantial amounts of money. Not only would the couple be unable to buy their dream home, they were unable to continue making payments on their small apartment. Which of the following statements explains the fate of people like Emilio and Sue?

White-collar offenses are less visible than crimes such as burglary and robbery, but their overall economic impact may be considerably greater. White-collar offenses are less visible than crimes such as burglary and robbery but their overall economic impact may be considerably greater. It is not a victimless crime. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars.

Which of the following is true of computer crime investigations?

Investigations of computer crimes involve proactive initiatives like monitoring electronic bulletin boards. Computer crime investigations are typically proactive. Initiatives include monitoring electronic bulletin boards and maintaining contact with local schools and businesses to help prevent and detect possible crimes with computers

Which of the following is true of computer crimes in recent times?

Offenders of computer crimes can easily destroy evidence.Physical evidence in computer crimes is different from that in traditional crimes. The volume of evidence encountered in computer crimes can be burdensome and can be destroyed with ease.

Which confidence game requires a convincing act of bickering between the con artists that makes the victim feel that he or she will be left out unless they abide by the conditions of the agreement?

Pigeon Drop. The key to the pigeon drop's success is the powerful acting between the con artists—in particular, the bickering between the two cons that makes the victim feel that he or she will be left out unless they abide by the conditions of the agreement.

Detective Fallon is following up on a case of bank fraud. The fraud was committed by a college student who used a set of programs he downloaded from a free site he found on the Internet. In order to further his investigation, whose expertise would Detective Fallon require?

Programmers who wrote the programs. Programmers know how to navigate the systems they programmed. They may be able to give advice or aid the detective in retrieving valuable evidence. When the case goes to court, the same people can offer expert testimony to establish the integrity and reliability of the evidence seized.

Riza is a single mother working as a cashier at a supermarket. Her earnings are not enough to support herself and her four-year-old son. Riza is approached by Joan, who wants to recruit her into her business. Joan explains to Riza that she will be compensated based on how many more members she recruits. Riza, wishing to improve her financial situation, begins to work for Joan. However, in a matter of months, the business tanks. As the number of recruiters grew, it made recruiting difficult, and the ability to profit impossible. What was Riza drawn into?

Pyramid "get rich quick" scheme. The pyramid scheme is typically a representation that new participants can recoup their original investments by convincing two or more prospects to make the same investment. However, eventually, the scheme spirals out of control and soon collapses due to the sheer number of people involved.

According to this arrangement, new participants can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment.

Pyramid Scheme. In a pyramid scheme, new participants are told they can recoup their original investments by inducing two or more prospects to make the same investment. Promoters fail to tell prospective participants that this is mathematically impossible for everyone to do, since some participants drop out, while others recoup their original investments and then drop out

Artie stole a wallet from an old man who was distracted while browsing through some items at a local supermarket. Artie removes the credit card and tosses the wallet. He knows he needs to be careful in deciding where he can use the "hot card." Where might Artie decide to use the credit card without arousing any suspicion?

Self-serve gas stations. Self-serve payment systems (gas stations, kiosks, etc.) are common targets for stolen cards because no one will ask to verify the card holder's identity.

A drug trafficker made a large profit from a recent heroin deal. Afterward, to avoid the bank's reporting requirements, the trafficker provides several individuals with cash from the drug sales. Each individual goes to a different bank and purchases cashier's checks in denominations of less than $10,000. The individuals then turn the checks over to a second individual who transports them physically to banks in Mexico. What method of money laundering is the trafficker engaging in?

Smurfing. The individuals who provided cash from the trafficker are the "smurfs."

The police were asked to investigate a case of cyber-extortion by a group of hackers in the suburbs. Newly appointed homicide investigation expert Ted is the only officer available to take the case, but his captain refuses to send him. What could be the reason Ted was not sent to take up the case?

Ted does not have the technical expertise to handle a computer crime investigation. Computer crime investigations require a great amount of technical expertise by investigators and prosecutors. Ted, being a homicide investigator, would not be the ideal candidate in investigating a computer crime like this one.

How does jurisdiction pose a problem while investigating a computer crime?

The suspect's computer was used to facilitate the crime in another jurisdiction where laws might differ.Often a suspect computer will have been used in facilitating a crime in another jurisdiction because of complex computer networking. It is necessary, therefore, to determine what federal, state, or local laws might apply to the type of computer crime committed.