Check and Computer Fraud

Question: We have a customer that is a title company. The title company had done a settlement for a couple paying off a credit card. The couple requested a copy of the check from the title company and in turn went online to their credit card company and entered the ABA for our bank and the title company's account number. They transferred a total of $13,000. When we file the SAR, what crime or crimes should we check?

Answer: What you have here is an action that spans both check fraud and computer fraud. Arguably, by using your bank's ABA number, it amounts to computer intrusion. We recommend indicating both crimes on the SAR.

Copyright © 2005 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 10, No. 10, 9/05