Since people in such positions make up far less than half of the total work force, this finding suggests that they are more likely than low-level employees to defraud their employers. This is not so much a commentary on the relative honesty of high-level employees as it is a reflection of the fact that they are subject to fewer controls to begin with and are often in a position to override those controls that do exist. Computer fraud is the subject of nightmares. The concern is justified. While computers have reduced the drudgery of office work, they have also placed powerful tools in the hands of would-be thieves.
Electronic blips can instantly carry millions of dollars thousands of miles.
And the problem changes with the introduction, almost daily it seems, of new technology. Before management builds the necessary controls into the current system, a new one comes along. Fortunately, most computer frauds so far discovered have been the same old-fashioned frauds that were carried out before computers came along. So far at least, the computer has been used less to carry out new kinds of fraud rather than to introduce new ways to carry out familiar kinds of fraud. False entries to receivables records, for example, are entered into the computer record instead of the paper record.