In February of this year, a California hospital chain wasdefrauded of more than $2 million from its accounts held at WellsFargo. How was this done and why wasn't it detected? In thisage of Check 21 adoption, how could a large bank be susceptible tosomething that is seemingly so low-tech?

The answer is simple: the crooks had access to thesignatures of senior officials, who were authorized signers at thehospital chain, and proceeded to fax wire transfer orders withthese forged signatures to the bank. They gained access to thesesignatures through a public information website that posted actualdocuments with signatures.

Adoption of new capabilities, to improve efficiencies and reduceexpenditures, can also unintentionally increase costs associatedwith one of the most common types of bank fraud: signatureforgeries.