Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 56 views

    Requiered: It Might Be Argued That The Physical

    Uploaded by

    pancha lechu
    Stanley Rifkin was a computer consultant who ordered $13 million worth of diamonds from a Russian company, intending to pay $8 million. To fund the purchase, he fraudulently transferred $10.2 million from a bank he previously consulted for. He smuggled the diamonds to the US and started selling them until his contact informed authorities. Rifkin was apprehended with the remaining diamonds. The bank was slow to detect the fraudulent transfer.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content

    Requiered: It Might Be Argued That The Physical

    Uploaded by

    pancha lechu
    56 views1 page
    Stanley Rifkin was a computer consultant who ordered $13 million worth of diamonds from a Russian company, intending to pay $8 million. To fund the purchase, he fraudulently transferred $10.2 million from a bank he previously consulted for. He smuggled the diamonds to the US and started selling them until his contact informed authorities. Rifkin was apprehended with the remaining diamonds. The bank was slow to detect the fraudulent transfer.

    Original Description:

    Original Title

    Stanley Rifkin

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Stanley Rifkin was a computer consultant who ordered $13 million worth of diamonds from a Russian company, intending to pay $8 million. To fund the purchase, he fraudulently transferred $10.2 million from a bank he previously consulted for. He smuggled the diamonds to the US and started selling them until his contact informed authorities. Rifkin was apprehended with the remaining diamonds. The bank was slow to detect the fraudulent transfer.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    56 views1 page

    Requiered: It Might Be Argued That The Physical

    Uploaded by

    pancha lechu
    Stanley Rifkin was a computer consultant who ordered $13 million worth of diamonds from a Russian company, intending to pay $8 million. To fund the purchase, he fraudulently transferred $10.2 million from a bank he previously consulted for. He smuggled the diamonds to the US and started selling them until his contact informed authorities. Rifkin was apprehended with the remaining diamonds. The bank was slow to detect the fraudulent transfer.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 1

    Stanley Rifkin was a freelance computer consultant who had been employed by a

    firm that did consulting work for Security Pacific Bank in California. In early
    October 1978, he visited a diamond broker in L.A. and placed an order for about
    42,000 carats of polished gemstones. The retail value of the stones was about $13
    million; however Rifkin contracted to pay $8 million as the cash wholesale price.
    An order was then placed by de broker in Russalmaz, The Soviet government’s
    diamond exporting company.

    To finance his purchase, Rifkin decided to defraud Security Pacific. First he


    gained access to the bank’s transfer room. He did not arouse suspicion of
    employees, since he had worked there on earlier consulting assignments. Next he
    gained access to three critical data items; the security code needed to authorize a
    particular day’s funds transfer orders, the personal identification code used by one
    of the bank’s employees to gain access to the system, and the number of an
    account that had a substantial deposit balance. At the end of the day when he
    knew bank employees would be tired and less likely to detect an impropriety, he
    initiated the procedures to transfer $10.2 million to a bank account in Zurich. He
    then authorized the required payment of $8 million to Russalmaz.

    After making the payment, Rifkin flew to Zurich under a fake passport to pick
    up the diamonds. He smuggled them back into the United States and commenced
    to pawn them. His downfall occurred when he made contact with someone in
    Rochester, New York, during an attempt to sell the remaining diamonds. The
    contact was a lawyer with whom he had been associated, and he disclosed to the
    lawyer how he had committed the “perfect crime”. Ethically, the lawyer was bound
    to take the matter further with the authorities. The FBI traced the sequence of
    transfers and apprehended Rifkin in a friend’s apartment with the diamonds.
    Rifkin executed the transfers on October 25. However, it was not until early
    November that Security Pacific found out the money was missing, supposedly in
    response to some inquiries from the FBI. Once the fraud was detected, it was
    easy to identify Rifkin as the culprit, since the bank taped all telephone transfer
    orders. The diamond broker in L.A. identified Rifkin’s voice on the tape. When
    questioned about their inability to promptly identify the unauthorized transfer of
    funds, the bank responded that there was nothing unusual about the $10.2 million
    transfer that had occurred.

    Requiered: It might be argued that the physical access controls in the bank’s
    system were weak. Nevertheless, Rifkin was a skilled, intelligent individual who
    had acquired a position of trust among the bank’s employees, and consequently
    the system might always be vulnerable in spite of strong preventive controls. What
    detective controls would you recommend, therefore, to enable an authorized
    electronic funds transfer to be identified quickly?

    You might also like