The system is the Productive Lead Calculation System (PLCS), developed by the Wachovia Bank and Trust Company of Winston-Salem, N.C. PLCS is a scoring system used to assign numerical points to various productive leads developed during the preliminary investigation. A case is referred for outside work only when the total point value reaches or surpasses a predetermined level of 10 points. All preliminary work is completed by a staff of fraud control assistants who work primarily by phone. The benefits of PLCS include defining the investigative work load, establishing case work priorities, providing more complete preliminary investigations, and obtaining a higher percentage of successful case resolutions. In addition, cases with little chance for solution are identified, and staff work becomes more effective. During the 6-month testing period, Wachovia's investigative caseload, which averages 45 fraud cases each month, was reduced to an average of 9 MasterCard and 4 automated teller machine (ATM) fraud cases per month. This investigative caseload was handled by one outside investigator; the remaining 32 cases were handled by the fraud control assistants. Case scoring charts, examples of case scoring, and ways of protecting credit cards are included.