Modus Operandi (12 page)

There are also correspondence clubs that take the initial deposits and then go much further to receive more funds from their cons. An elderly gentleman receives delightful letters from a widow across the country found for him by the correspondence club. These, of course, are form letters that are written by the thousands each month by the employees of the scam. After a few months of writing, the widow declares her intentions to visit the gentleman. His interest peaked, he is all set for this visit. However, in transit to the gentleman's home, she falls seriously "ill" and cables him for a bundle of money just until she can get to her own bank and make a withdrawal. The money is sent by the expectant gentleman and that is the last that is heard of the nonexistent widow.

Gypsy swindlers and door-to-door confidence men exploit the elderly to the tune of millions annually through a variety of schemes. Many of these con artists pose as city inspectors telling people that their storm sewers need cleaning to pass inspection. They will work two hours and charge a person $1,050. Other times they will insist that they are roofing inspectors and state that the roof will need painting and repair. They will go on the roof and work for about three or four hours and charge $1,685.

In another investigation that we handled, a retired physician in his eighties gave a representative of an alleged termite control firm $1,790 for treatment of his home, after being shown a piece of termite-eaten wood supposedly removed from his basement. Subsequent investigation failed to establish that there was any termite activity in the home.

A Glossary lor Con Artists

Noted below is the compendium of con artist language. Be sure con artists in your works are flamboyant, extraverted and expert salesmen. To make them realistic you should have them use the following terms and know exactly what they mean:

Big
Con A confidence game or trick, usually with an elaborate set up, that nets the swindler big money.

Boob
A victim or dupe.

Booster
A shoplifter, also an assistant to the operator of a con game.

Bunko
A confidence game or swindle.
Cannon
A pickpocket.

Capper
An outside man who works for a gambler, one who brings in the suckers.

Century
A one hundred dollar bill, also called a C-note.

Check Kiting
Passing a check whose amount has been fraudulently raised. A check bearing a forged signature or check without funds to cover it.

Chump
A sucker.

Clip Artist
A swindler.

Cold Deckel
deck of cards dishonestly introduced into a game.

Flush
Describes a sucker who has plenty of money.

Front Money
Money put up to lead a sucker into a swindle.

Gaff
Any method, device or system used by a swindler to trick a sucker.

Grand
A thousand dollars or G-note.
Gyp Artiste
swindler.

Haul
The swindler's take or profit, also called loot, gravy, cut, doe or swag.

Hooked
To be swindled.

Laying Paper
Passing worthless checks.

Layout
The swindler's paraphernalia, also called the set up.

Mark
prospective or actual victim of a confidence game.

Nut
The sum total of expenses.

One Spot
A one dollar bill.

Paper Hanger
A bad check passer.

Patsy
A dupe or victim of a swindle.

Phony
Counterfeit money or a package of paper with good bills on the outside.

Pigeon
The dupe or victim of a confidence game.

Poke
A pocketbook or wallet.

Rap
A complaint or criminal charge.

Salesman
A swindlers advanceman who makes the first contact with the mark.

Score
To pull off a swindle and then the proceeds from the swindle.

Shill
A swindler's assistant who poses as one of the crowd. He may be permitted to win a short card game to facilitate bringing in victims.

Short Con
A confidence game in which little preparation is needed and small stakes are involved.

Spieler
The person who does most of the talking in a con game.

Steerer
A confidence operator who first approaches the intended victim. Also called the salesman.

Sucker
From the swindler's standpoint any person not engaged in some swindling activity. Also called the fall guy, sap, pigeon, dupe, gull, easy mark, boob, chump, egg, patsy or customer.

Thimble Rigger
A shell game operator.

Touch
The victim of a swindle or a sucker.

Trick
A
swindle. To pull a trick is to swindle.

Trim
To swindle, fleece, jip, clip, beat or cheat a sucker.

We all know that the most desirable article to forge is paper money. But, counterfeiters and forgers do not just deal in currency. Anything that can be used to make a profit will be duplicated and sold: artwork, bank checks and stocks and bonds, even blue jeans and pocketbooks. If there is a market for an item, you can almost guarantee there will be someone willing to reproduce it cheaper.

What is counterfeiting? It is defined in criminal codes as an act of copying or producing a genuine facsimile for the purpose of unlawfully circulating them for profit. The enforcement of federal counterfeiting laws is done mainly by the U.S. Treasury Department through the Secret Service.

Currencies

The currency most often counterfeited in the U.S. is the twenty dollar bill. Store clerks will take them with little or no hesitation; especially when a cashier is confronted with a line of customers. Today's counterfeiters will not attempt to fool the unsuspecting cashier with a perfectly manufactured counterfeit bill. Instead, they rely on the clerk's lack of attention to pass the bogus bills. This is achieved by placing the counterfeit currency between a number of authentic bills, and by asking a number of complicated questions so the checkout line stacks up with angry customers who preoccupy the cashier.

Modern Money

We have all seen in the movies the master engraver. The typical scene is a small, dimly lit room, perhaps tucked away in a basement or to the rear of a small curio shop in a seedy part of town. The engraver sits on a stool, hunched over a small wooden bench table. One light fixture hangs over the table. His sleeves are rolled up and a visor is on top of his head shading his eyes from the harsh light. A tiny razor-sharp chisel is used to precisely and meticulously carve into a metal plate the image of a one hundred dollar bill. Once both sides of the bill are complete, the plates are placed into a press and one at a time these one hundred dollar bills are reproduced.

This is not the norm today. Small-time hoods duplicate currency on high-quality color copy machines that cost in excess of $80,000 each, or computers with laser printers. Unlike the master engraver, anyone with little or no art skills can make a high-quality reproduction of U.S. currency. Counterfeiters use high-tech software programs to accomplish this. Not all the counterfeit monies produced today are from professional criminals. School-aged children use their library copiers to reproduce money to buy items from their cafeteria vending machines. More gutsy juveniles will attempt to make purchases at a local convenience store with photocopied money.

Worth the Paper and Ink

The paper used to make genuine U.S. currency is 100 percent cotton rag that holds a unique textured surface. This texture can be easily observed and felt when it is han-died. Small red and blue fibers arc embedded in the paper. The paper used for currency is very tightly controlled, making it almost impossible to obtain. One enterprising counterfeiter, knowing of the tiny red and blue fibers, attempted to duplicate the paper by carefully gluing tiny bits of red and blue fiber onto his counterfeit money.

The United States government is now taking steps to stop the ease of duplicating its currency. Beginning in 1996, United States currency will contain a number of new security characteristics. Some of these characteristics will be kept secret for security reasons, but basically they are going to have some of the same features found in currency in European countries. The currency will contain watermarks that will only be visible when looked at with lighting behind the currency itself. This is designed to eliminate the possibility of copying currency with a copy machine, because these watermarks will not transfer. Another protection from copiers or high-quality laser printers will be the introduction of microprinting. Microprinting is impossible to reproduce through photocopying because the tiny characters blur when photocopied.

The standard red and blue fibers will be placed in different locations that will indicate the denomination of the currency. The green ink, which is also a tightly controlled product, will still be used, but this new currency will have an additional ink that will change colors when viewed at different angles.

Credit Card Fraud/Counterfeiting

It's actually pretty simple to get credit card numbers. A search of apartment building dumpsters for sales receipts or billing account statements will yield a motherlode of information. Carbon copies thrown in retail outlet dumpsters is another method, and, of course, a salesman looking to make a fast buck is also a good source for charge card numbers.

Credit card information is also easily obtained through telemarketing scams. Basically, you receive a telephone call stating that you won an outstanding prize or the vacation of your dreams. The only problem is that for you to receive your prize, you first have to satisfy your tax obligation or a shipping fee for your prize to be delivered. One method suggested to you is paying with your Visa or MasterCard. Once the number is obtained, it is then imprinted on a bogus charge card.

These bogus charge cards are either manufactured, usually in a well-organized and equipped print shop, or stolen with inside help from the company of issue. The charge card can now easily be used for at least thirty days, which is the usual billing cycle, without threat of apprehension.

Counterfeit losses have generally represented a small percentage of volume loss for the major bank credit card companies—Visa and MasterCard International. These credit card vendors paid the problem scant attention until the involvement of organized crime and the rising losses. MasterCard lost $172,000 to counterfeiters in 1979, but $9.3 million in 1983 on a total of $41.8 billion dollars in sales. The $9.3 million is not tremendous, but the growth is alarming. According to Visa, 93 percent of U.S. counterfeiting occurs in twelve states, and card fraud operations appear to coincide with the locations of major, known organized crime families. It has been determined that 82 percent of all counterfeit and altered card transactions took place in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

Lost or stolen cards are used first for large purchases by criminals. Counterfeiting and alterations are usually the second step for a stolen card. When the issuer finally hot-lists the account number, counterfeiters recycle their cards using methods ranging from the crude —cutting the numbers off and pasting them on another card —to the sophisticated—$140,000 embossing machines.