I received my letter yesterday–the one from the Secretary of Veteran Affairs telling me "information identifiable with me was potentially exposed to others." This information included names, Social Security numbers, date of birth, and who knows what else. Considering the size of the folder that was handed to me when I left active military duty, I suspect there actually was a lot more information compromised than the government currently is willing to admit. It probably is a little overkill for me, though. If all you want is my date of birth and Social, you don't need to devise a sophisticated plot–just raid my locker when I am taking a shower at the Y. My driver's license has that information plainly displayed on it.

ChoicePoint, MasterCard, your local bank, the Veterans Administration–whatever, wherever–personal data constantly is being stolen and perhaps misused. We tend to treat this as a problem of the information age. Ubiquitous computers, the Internet, global corporate networks, lax computer security, and gigabytes of data "out there" on each and every one of us supposedly have created an environment in which identity theft and electronic fraud are fostered. I contend the information age has nothing to do with the problem. The real problem is Western society has degenerated into a community where individuals and corporations will go to any means to ensure they come out on top. Greed has become the primary motivation for the 21st century worker. Let's define greed as the desire to acquire or possess more than one needs or deserves. Greed or avarice is not a new phenomenon–it was identified by the Roman Catholics as one of the seven deadly sins about seven centuries ago–yet it has become the defining quality of the post-modern society. The reality of a zero-sum economy is the most fortunate spend an inordinate amount of time and effort to ensure the less fortunate stay that way. There are now about 2.8 billion people who live on less than two dollars a day–and that in a world population of about 6.5 billion. Our problems go beyond greed, though. It is an entire mindset that compels people to get ahead at any cost.

The university I attended as an undergraduate had an honor system. That honor system was based upon the premise a "gentleman" does not lie, cheat, or steal. We routinely were given unproctored tests or even take-home exams with instructions such as: "Use only an hour to take the exam, and use no additional material for assistance." There were no locks on dormitory rooms. You could leave money sitting on your desk with the assurance it would be there weeks later. Lying was unthinkable. There were lots of side benefits, e.g., merchants would accept your out-of-state check with only your student ID as assurance. The system worked. It worked because we honestly and truly believed being honorable was a desirable quality. The concept of cheating on an exam to gain an unfair advantage over other students was totally unthinkable. The honor system itself was entirely student run.

I remember a student being dismissed from the university because of plagiarism–a freshman paper contained a paragraph that appeared to have been lifted from a Time magazine article. Compare that with the case of Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan whose novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life apparently has many passages shamelessly lifted from two novels by Megan McCafferty. Or compare the honor system I experienced as an undergraduate with the watered-down honor code that exists today. In fact, it exists in name only. Students' "rights" must be preserved–mere felony theft from a retail establishment is not appropriate reason for dismissal from the university. Widespread cheating scandals have been uncovered. Students of the 21st century apparently seem unable to believe in and abide by an honor code.

Perhaps the idea of an honor code really is an anachronism, though not as anachronistic as former Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson's remark, "Gentlemen don't read each other's mail"–this was when he was shutting down the State Department's cryptanalysis office. But wasn't honor ever in fashion? I seem to recall a time when a criminal would be captured, and the reaction would be "OK, boys . . . you finally got me." In a post-O.J. Simpson world, the felon's first reaction is, "I didn't do it."

Criminals caught on videotape are alleged criminals. Let me digress just a bit. Because of something I am involved in, I get to know a lot of convicted felons really well. The vast majority of them claim they are imprisoned on a "bum rap." Interestingly, if you carry the conversation to the next logical step with a question such as "So, you didn't commit the crime for which you are incarcerated, but did you commit other similar crimes?" the answer is invariably yes! Doing the crime isn't the issue. Getting caught is.

These crimes all are related, but let's return specifically to identify theft and credit-card fraud. The reason credit-card fraud is so easy to accomplish is greed is motivating all involved parties. A few years ago, my wife and I drove to a popular urban bike trail, unracked our bikes, and took off. A few hours later, we returned to find a car window smashed and my wife's purse and wallet missing.

A quick call to our credit-card companies revealed one card already had been hit for some $20,000 worth of goodies. I spent some time working with police and the credit-card security people and discovered the following: A group of people took the card to a department store where they made major purchases, including a dozen expensive television sets. The first time through, the purchase amount was rejected as they exceeded the credit limit on the card. This was before the days of truly outrageous limits. So, they took a television set back, but they still were over the limit. So, they took another back, continuing until they were able to drop just under the spending limit on the card. The store did not even ask for identification. It was so greedy for that very large sale, it was not about to question the propriety or the legality of the transaction.

The computer system at the credit-card issuer should also have thrown up a flag when the same card was rejected for over-limit time and time again. But the premise of consumer credit is to allow users to max out their credit limits, then collect minimum payments at a usurious rate of interest for the next 20 years. The desire to maximize profits–greed–for all the parties involved in this transaction allowed this to happen. As a footnote, I should report the department store was forced to eat the damage on that transaction. In most cases, the credit-card bank takes the loss it then passes on to consumers. You can sustain a lot of loss when you are collecting interest at a 28 percent APR.

That was a few years ago. We are much more cautious today, right? I don't think so. Last week I finally decided to leap into the future. My 20-year-old 19-inch Magnavox and bargain basement components had become such an embarrassment my children refused to watch television at our house. So, my wife and I ventured to one of the tech superstores and did a 20-year upgrade to a large flat-screen HD television with a state-of-the-art component system. As I was muttering something about this television costing more than many of the cars I have purchased, my wife handed over a credit card for an account in her name only. I ended up signing the card approval slip. We have different last names, so I don't know about the validity of that, but I do know we never were asked for any identification. Once again–greed–there was no way that salesperson was going to jeopardize the sale by asking embarrassing questions such as "Why don't the name on the slip and the card match?"

Why is it so easy to defraud people on the Internet? Because they are greedy. They want to get something for nothing. As ludicrous as it sounds, the "I am the ex-finance minister of Liberia" scams actually work. These things wouldn't continue to be perpetrated if they didn't work. Just like any other business person, "ex-finance ministers" need a positive ROI or they find another way to make money. Internet scam artists use the same tricks that have been used for years. The premise is I am going to give you something, generally money, which you are not entitled to or which you haven't earned, but first I need to trust you, so you must give me some money in return to prove your trust. I worked at a bank back in the mainframe, batch-processing days. Our tellers always were on the alert for elderly customers withdrawing large sums of cash (we considered $500 a large sum in those days). They would pointedly ask them, "Why do you want this money?" We would get regular briefings from the FBI about the various scams that would be being worked in our geographic region. And we actually caught some hucksters attempting to defraud our customers.

Insurance fraud is common–probably even more common than we know. In California, there may be large organized gangs causing rear-end-collision automobile accidents solely to generate false medical claims. And if it works on a large scale in Los Angeles, you can be sure it is working on a smaller scale in Indianapolis and an even lesser scale in Smallville.

Western civilization has undergone a radical transformation in the half century or so since World War II. Egocentricity and greed define modern man. We see it everywhere we turn: on our highways, in schools, in sports, everywhere. Cheating has become the accepted norm. I, for one, am pleasantly amazed when people actually queue up instead of forcing their way to the front. The watchword has become rules apply to everyone but me and mine. If I want to carry three bags onto my flight, two of which will not fit under my seat, I will do it anyway. Moreover, because I am a special passenger and will board before everyone else, I will take your space in the overhead bin before you even get there. Never mind that I attained my special flight status by booking unnecessary multileg flights my employer must pay for. Integrity? What does that mean? The whole concept of a gentleman or a lady is, in fact, ludicrously anachronistic. Why do we continue to be surprised by Internet fraud and identity theft? Are they really unusual or unexpected behaviors?

I remember a COBOL course I took a few years ago. The instructor also was a full-time programmer for a Fortune 25 company. He often would talk about how "moral" his company was–how it did things the right way. He explained how that company would build in checks and balances to the accounting systems to make certain vendors were paid properly and on time. It was a matter of pride this firm paid its bills on time and took only earned discounts. That company still exists and still is a Fortune 25 company. I wonder whether it still is bound by those high standards? I hope so.

week.

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