THE DEVELOPMENTS IN ACCOUNTING, AUDITING, DATA PROCESSING, COMPUTERS, AND COMMUNICATIONS ARE TRACED AS COMPONENTS OF THE BUSINESS AND AUDITING ENVIRONMENTS. COMPUTER FRAUD METHODS ARE ENUMERATED, WITH CALCULATION OF THE LOSSES FROM EMPLOYEE DISHONESTY IN DOLLAR AMOUNTS AS A BASIS FOR CALCULATION OF COMPUTER FRAUD IMPACT IN DOLLARS AND ON THE AUDITING PROFESSION. THE EXTENT AND DIVERSITY OF COMPUTER FRAUD CASES ARE REVEALED, ALONG WITH THE PROBLEM OF COLLECTING INFORMATION ABOUT COMPUTER FRAUD CASES. RESULTS FROM A SURVEY OF INFORMATION RESOURCES ARE SUMMARIZED, WITH SUGGESTIONS FROM SURVEY RESPONDENTS. SOME EXISTING FRAUD REPORTING SYSTEMS ARE NOTED. FINDINGS FROM A LITERATURE SEARCH ARE DETAILED, WITH IDENTIFICATION OF EARLY LITERATURE ON AUDITING AND DATA PROCESSING. IN ADDITION, LEGAL, LAYMAN, AND AUDITOR DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATIONS OF FRAUD, EMBEZZLEMENT, AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIME ARE DEVELOPED AS A PRELUDE TO CONSIDERATION OF COMPUTER FRAUD TERMINOLOGY IN THE LITERATURE. AN INDEX OF A CPA'S EXPOSURE TO COMPUTER FRAUD IS DETERMINED, ALONG WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF AUDITING STANDARDS AND AUDIT OBJECTIVES. THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS (AICPA) POSITION ON ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DETECTION OF FRAUD IS TRACED, TOGETHER WITH THE PUBLIC'S DOUBTS ABOUT THAT POSITION. OVERALL, THE STUDY SHOWS THAT CPA'S SHOULD ENLARGE THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES FOR FRAUD DETECTION BY EMPLOYING COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEMS AND OFFERING A SEPARATE SERVICE FOR COMPUTER FRAUD DETECTION. FOOTNOTES, TABULAR DATA, CHARTS, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. APPENDIXES CONTAIN SUMMARIES OF COMPUTER ABUSE CASES AND SELECTED COMPUTER PROGRAMS FOR AUDITORS, AS WELL AS DETAILS OF THE SURVEY OF INFORMATION RESOURCES AND OF THE SURVEY FOR GENERALIZED COMPUTER AUDIT PROGRAMS. (WJR)