1. Larceny-Theft Chapter 16

2. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 2 THE NATURE OF LARCENY-THEFT Larceny-theft is the most common crime of gain and the most frequently reported of the FBI’s index crimes. Thieves may be young or old, male or female, rich or poor, employed or unemployed, and from any race, religion, or social status.

3. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3 LEGAL ASPECTS OF LARCENY-THEFT The word theft describes many forms of criminal conduct and is not a common law offense. – Theft The taking of property without the owner’s consent; a popular term for larceny. Frequently used as a synonym for the word larceny. – Larceny-theft The taking and carrying, leading, riding, or driving away the personal property of another with the specific intent of permanently depriving the owner of his or her property.

4. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 4 LEGAL ASPECTS OF LARCENY-THEFT Larceny-theft takes many forms, but state statutes defining the crime contain these five common elements:  the taking and  carrying away  of personal property  of another  with the specific intent of permanently depriving the owner of his or her property.

5. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 5 LEGAL ASPECTS OF LARCENY-THEFT Most modern statutes divide larceny into two degrees: grand larceny and petty larceny. Grand larceny – The taking and carrying away of another’s personal property with a value in excess of the cutoff amount in a given jurisdiction, with the intent of depriving the owner of it permanently; generally considered a felony. Petty larceny – The taking and carrying away of another’s personal property with a value below the cutoff amount in a given jurisdiction, with the intent of depriving the owner of it permanently; generally considered a misdemeanor.

6. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 6 TYPES OF LARCENY-THEFT Criminal investigators may encounter many types of larceny-thefts. Larceny-Theft Percent Distributions in the Nation

7. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 7 Pickpockets and Purse Snatchers Pickpockets may work alone or in small groups. The art of pocket-picking depends on stealth. Purse snatchers frequently grab a purse by force and run.

8. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 8 Pickpockets and Purse Snatchers The names for different types of pickpockets reflect their techniques: – Choppers or slitters – Spitters – Short workers – Hugger-muggers or jack rollers – Toilet workers – Ticket-line operators – Sleepers – Coin-droppers

9. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 9 Pickpockets and Purse Snatchers Pickpockets are drawn to crowded settings. Investigators assigned to a pickpocket detail should be alert and observant of potential suspects and victims in such situations. Recognizing known pickpockets from past experience or mug shots can greatly assist investigators.

10. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 10 Shoplifters Shoplifting accounts for nearly 30 percent of all retail losses in the United States each year. – Shoplifting The taking of goods from a retail establishment without paying for them, while posing as a customer. – Employee pilfering The theft of goods from warehouses, factories, retail businesses, and offices by employees.

11. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 11 Shoplifters Amateurs The modus operandi of most amateurs is fairly predictable. – Concealing merchandise in a shopping bag, purse, pocket, backpack, coat, or under clothing. – Switching a price tag – Place small items in the pockets of garments being purchased

12. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 12 Shoplifters Professionals – Trained in shoplifting techniques – Thefts are premeditated, executed with care and stealth. – Carry booster devices – Wear specially designed clothing with concealed pockets – Booster device A container, generally a box, with a spring-loaded trap door, allowing the professional shoplifter to conceal stolen goods very quickly. Fence – Slang term for a professional receiver, concealer, and disburser of stolen property.

13. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 13 FRAUD Fraud – Misrepresentation, trickery, or deception with criminal intent to deprive someone of his or her property. Criminal intent is called mens rea in criminal law. Fraud is a less serious crime than larceny-theft or burglary, but it has great economic impact.

14. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 14 Credit Card Fraud The enormous availability and use of credit cards has moved this type of fraud to the forefront during recent years. The use of stolen, forged, or unauthorized credit cards or credit card numbers has become a huge illegal business. Thieves obtain credit cards and credit card numbers by theft.

15. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 15 Credit Card Fraud Reader/collectors Theft of credit card numbers has significantly increased during merchandise transactions handled over the Internet.

16. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 16 Check Fraud Forging checks and writing bad checks are different statutory violations in most jurisdictions. The occasional overdrawn account is distinguishable from persistently and knowingly writing checks with not sufficient funds (NSF). Hang paper – Knowingly and intentionally writing bad checks; slang expression.

17. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 17 Check Fraud Check forgery comes in two forms: – Forgery of the signature on the front of the check. – Forgery of the payee’s name on the reverse of the check, as the endorsement.

18. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 18 Forgery Signatures Usually a fairly easy crime to accomplish. Typically, the signature need not even be very close to that of the real account owner. Banks typically only check signatures if there is a protest by the account owner

19. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 19 Endorsement Fraud Forging the endorsement on the back of a check generally involves some degree of identity theft. Endorsement frauds are more commonly committed at a bank than in a merchant’s store. The thief must have some form of fraudulent identification to show the bank in order to negotiate the check

20. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 20 Counterfeit Checks Counterfeit checks can be created using desktop computer software or by making exact copies on sophisticated scanner-printers. Frequently, check counterfeiters will include magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line characters, so that the bank’s check reader will not detect the fraud (LaBonte, 2006).

21. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 21 Counterfeiting Money The Secret Service provides the public with information on how to identify counterfeit money online – http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/money_detect.shtml http://www.ustreas.gov/usss/money_detect.shtml “Counterfeit Report” Desk-top counterfeiting

22. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 22 Secret Service Counterfeit Report Form

23. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 23 Counterfeiting Money Security features in modern currency – Color-shifting ink – Watermarks – Security thread Overall, counterfeiting of U.S. currency remains at comparatively low levels.

24. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 24 Confidence Games Also known as a bunco Obtaining money or property by a trick, swindle, or device that takes advantage of the victim’s confidence in the swindler. Con artists tend to use one of two basic approaches: – Taking the victim for whatever money he or she has at the time (the short con) – Setting up the mark for higher stakes that require considerable planning and execution (the long con)

25. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 25 Confidence Games Most confidence games have three basic ingredients:  Finding a likely victim (locating a mark), which means identifying someone with money to fleece.  Enticing the mark by making an offer (the spiel) that sounds like getting something for nothing, appeals to superstition, or appeals to some aspect of vulnerable human nature (baiting and setting the hook).  Getting the victim to give up his or her money (reeling in the mark).

26. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 26 Bank Examiner Swindle May involve three or more people working in concert to swindle a victim. Con requires background research. – Learn the mark’s name, address, phone number, bank, and latest banking transaction. – Mark, bait the hook, the spiel, setting the hook, reeling in the mark.

27. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 27 Pigeon Drop Operated by two people Finding the wallet with money Put up good-faith money Leave with the money

28. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 28 Carnival Buncos Crooked games of chance Three-card monte The shell game Shill – A slang term for a secret coconspirator or accomplice in a confidence game.

29. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 29 Insurance Fraud Phony accident schemes Faked burglaries Exaggerated injuries False medical charges Double Billing A research study in 1996 found that 1/3 of all bodily injury claims for auto accidents contained some amount of fraud.

30. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 30 Consumer and Business Fraud Bait and Switch – Advertised bargain merchandise lures, or baits, a customer into the store. – Once there, the consumer is told that the store had only a single unit of that sale item and it has been sold. – However, the salesperson will be happy to sell the customer a more expensive version of the item. Look-Alike or Sound-Alike Products – Sellers offer inferior products with names that sound like or are packaged like better-quality or higher-priced items.

31. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 31 Consumer and Business Fraud Misrepresentation or False Advertising – Misrepresentation of product performance, warranty, quality, or the cost of credit. Service Swindles – Repair a home appliance or an automobile when repairs are not needed or to overcharge for repairs.

32. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 32 Consumer and Business Fraud Misrepresentation of Warranty – Intentional failures to provide a consumer with facts about a product’s warranty provisions and exclusions.

33. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 33 Telemarketing and Mail Fraud Gain credit card numbers over the phone by: – Prize offers – Travel packages – Investments – Charities – Recovery scams Similar scams operate through the mail.

34. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 34 Ponzi Schemes Named for Carlo Ponzi, Pyramid schemes offer prospective investors weekly or monthly returns on their investments. Initial investors (the top of the pyramid) do receive the promised return at first. As word spreads, more investors contribute, and additional layers of the pyramid are added. The con artist uses the new investors’ money to pay the interest on the older ones’. However, eventually, the interest payments exceed the new capital, and the swindler flees with the remaining investment cash.

35. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 35 Chain Letters A pyramid scheme Any chain letter that requires payment of money or something of value is a violation of federal mail fraud laws. Initially, six people are asked to each send a letter to six other people, each of whom must then send letters to six more people, and so on. The letter asks that a specified amount of money be sent to someone farther up the chain.

36. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 36 Identity Theft Identity theft – Using another person’s personal information without that person’s permission to commit fraud or other crimes. Phishing – A growing form of attempted identity theft in which consumers are contacted via bogus e-mail messages that try to lure them into providing personal information such as their Social Security number or financial account information.

37. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 37 Identity Theft One of the leading forms of identity theft involves credit card frauds. There are two major forms of credit card fraud involving identity theft: – Account takeovers – Application frauds

38. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 38 Account Takeover An account takeover occurs when a thief acquires someone’s existing credit account information The thief purchases products and services using either the actual credit card, a counterfeit credit card with the same number, or simply the account number and expiration date. Victims learn of account takeovers when they receive their monthly account statement. A thief may have up to thirty days to use the account before the owner realizes he or she has been victimized.

39. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 39 Application Fraud Called true name fraud Involves a thief using someone’s Social Security number or other identifying information to open new accounts in the victim’s name. Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. How Identity Thefts Works – See Figure 16.4

40. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 40 Investigating Fraud For any crime of fraud, investigators should obtain the following information: – Description of the offense – Description of the victim – Description of the suspect – Documentary and physical evidence – Corpus delicti of the offense

41. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 41 RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY Receiving or concealing stolen property. These two elements – (1) receiving, buying, or concealing stolen or illegally obtained goods – (2) knowing the goods to be stolen or illegally obtained, constitute the offense of receiving stolen goods.

42. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 42 RECEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY Sting operation – An undercover operation set up by law enforcement personnel to catch, or “sting,” offenders committing a crime. – Often used to collect evidence against thieves.

43. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 43 Investigating Fences and Other Receivers of Stolen Property When investigating possible fences, criminal investigators should pursue the following investigative activities: – Establish proof that the property was stolen. – Determine when the property was received by the accused. – Review records concerning the method of payment, the amount, place of payment, receipts, and so forth.

44. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 44 Investigating Fences and Other Receivers of Stolen Property Establish the circumstances of the receipt of the property – from whom – to whom – when the property was exchanged Identify where the property was found, and find out if and how it was concealed. Gather evidence that the accused knew the property was stolen. Obtain a description of the property, an estimate of its value, and the name and address of the owner.

45. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 45 Investigating Fences and Other Receivers of Stolen Property Obtain the identity of the person from whom the fence purchased the property. Determine the purchase price. Gather evidence of hiding, concealing, or destroying identification marks. Establish the failure to maintain proper records. Observe the conduct of the accused and any statements made when informed that the property was stolen.

46. Copyright ©2008 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 46 Ways of Preventing Fencing Identification numbers When individuals or businesses cannot positively identify their stolen merchandise, it becomes all the more difficult for prosecutors to obtain a conviction of a fence or a thief. Many local police agencies sponsor identification programs.