FOCUSING ON THE MOTIVATIONAL AND COMMERCIAL BACKGROUND OF FRAUD AND ITS SEEMINGLY AMORPHOUS NATURE, THE TEXT IDENTIFIES SEVERAL BASIC CATEGORIES OF FRAUD AND PROVIDES SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF EACH. THESE INCLUDE INTERNAL FRAUD AT THE MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS LEVEL, EXTERNAL FRAUD PERPETRATED BY BUSINESS CONTACTS AND OPPORTUNISTS, AND COLLUSIVE FRAUD INVOLVING ORGANIZED CRIMINALS ENGAGED IN LARCENY, MISREPRESENTATION, MANIPULATION, AND EXTORTION. THE COMPONENT ELEMENTS OF SUCH FRAUDULENT PRACTICES ARE ANALYZED, AND TECHNIQUES CONSTITUTING THE FIRST STEPS IN FRAUD DETECTION ARE DETAILED. A DISCUSSION FOLLOWS OF FRAUD INVESTIGATION AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS EFFECTIVE IN PREVENTING BUSINESS FRAUD. PARTICULAR EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON THE ROLE OF THE COMPUTER, BOTH AS A TARGET OF FRAUD AND AS A TOOL OF FRAUD DETECTION. THE LIMITATIONS OF COMPUTERS IN ASSISTING FRAUD ARE HIGHLIGHTED, AND NEW AND EFFECTIVE COMPUTER SURVEILLANCE TECHNIQUES ARE OUTLINED. A FINAL CHAPTER SUGGESTS WAYS IN WHICH THE TECHNICAL METHODS OF DETECTION AND PREVENTION DESCRIBED IN EARLIER SECTIONS CAN BE LINKED TOGETHER IN A PRACTICAL AND EFFECTIVE SECURITY PROGRAM. AN INDEX, BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND GLOSSARY ARE PROVIDED, ALONG WITH TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA.