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Law enforcement officers and computer experts say that the MAPS caper was typical of the kind of embezzlement that computers make possible. Transactions that once required several signatures on a piece of paper are now carried out instantly by the use of silicon microchips. With modern communications networks, money can be sent in a moment to a bank branch in the next county or in the next country. For example, the transfer of $7.9 billion last month from American banks to the Bank of England as part of the deal to free the American hostages in Iran took less than ten minutes.
The sophisticated technology multiplies the opportunities for theft. Warns Philip Wynn, deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County: "Computer crime is an extremely serious problem. I see it as a monster." No one knows exactly how much computer con men are raking in, but the numbers are big. Federal officials say that the average loss in a bank robbery is $3,200. A typical nonelectronic embezzlement comes to $23,500. But the average computer fraud is $430,000.
Moreover, computer criminals are rarely caught. Jay Becker, director of the National Center for Computer Crime Data, estimates that 99 out of 100 electronic swindles go totally undetected. In most cases security procedures are lax, or clever crooks have learned how to beat the system without leaving a trail. Says FBI Agent Paul Nolan: "In many instances, the criminal can punch just one button, which tells the computer to forget everything. Once that's done, the evidence is destroyed."
Recognizing the threat from computer cons, many banks have installed complex safeguards. Complicated codes are used to thwart unauthorized computer use, and some systems use special programs called audit trails that record every transaction and the user. Computer-security experts, however, admit that many criminals are easily staying one step ahead of the precautions. Says Robert Campbell, president of Advanced Information Management Inc.: "I guess we're at the same stage as when we first started putting locks on the doors of our houses. They kept schoolchildren and stray animals out, but for the person who is really determined, there's still little or no challenge."
Banks are not the only targets. Computer criminals are pilfering money from all kinds of companies. Employees at large corporations, for example, have used computers to print out paychecks to fictitious persons. Department-store workers have credited their charge accounts with a thousand dollars or so and have then gone on shopping sprees.