Corporate fraud

　　公司欺詐行為

　　Mind your language

　　謹言慎行

　　How linguistic software helps companies catch crooks

　　語言識別軟件幫助公司擒獲不法之徒

　　IN THE film Superman 3 , a lowly computer programmer embezzles a fat wad of money from his employer.

　　在電影《超人3》中，一位地位低的電腦程序員盜走雇主一大筆錢。

　　The boss laments that it will be hard to catch the thief, because he won t do a thing to callattention to himself. Unless, of course, he is a complete and utter moron.

　　老板悲傷至極，哀嚎著抓住竊賊可不容易，因為 竊賊可不會顯露自己的蹤跡，除非他完全是個十足的傻瓜。

　　Just then the thief screeches into the car park in a brand new red sports car, radio blaring.

　　就在此時，竊賊溜到停車場，鉆進一輛全新的紅色跑車中，廣播大聲響起。

　　In the real world, embezzlers are seldom so obvious.

　　現實世界中，盜賊很少如此名目張膽。

　　The traditional way to snare them is to hire an accountant to scrutinise accounts foranomalies.

　　要抓到他們的傳統方法就是雇傭一位會計，審查賬戶不正常交易。

　　But this is like looking for a contact lens in a snowdrift.

　　但是這就像是在飄雪中找尋隱形眼鏡。

　　So firms are turning to linguistic software to narrow the search.

　　因此，公司就借助語言識別軟件來縮小搜查范圍。

　　Rip-offs tend to occur in what gumshoes call the fraud triangle : where incentive,rationalisation and opportunity meet.

　　盜竊常常出現于偵探所說的 詐騙三因素 ，即動機、理由及機會三者相滿足的時候。

　　To spot staff with the incentive to steal , anti-fraud software scans e-mails for evidence of money troubles.

　　為了識別有偷竊動機的員工，反欺詐偵破軟件搜尋郵件尋找有財務問題的證據。

　　Phrases like under the gun and make sales quota can indicate that an employee isdesperate for a bit extra.

　　或許像 債臺高筑 與 限額銷售 會表明有雇員急需一筆意外之財。

　　Spotting rationalisation is harder.

　　要找到合理的理由就更難。

　　One technique is to identify those who seem unhappy about their jobs, since some mayrationalise wrongdoing by telling themselves that their employer is an evil corporationthat deserves to be ripped off.

　　一種技巧就是找到似乎對自己的工作不滿意的員工，因為有些人可能會告訴自己雇主是家品行不端的公司，遭到竊取利索應當，以此為自己的犯罪行為找到理由。

　　Ernst Young , a consultancy, offers software that purports to show anemployee s emotional state over time: spikes in trend-lines reading confused , secretive or angry help investigators know whose e-mail to check, and when.

　　安永會計師事務所多提供的軟件據稱可追蹤雇員不同時間內的情緒變化：趨勢線中的峰值顯示 困惑 ， 秘密 或 憤怒 ，幫助調查者知道該檢查誰的電子郵件，何時檢查。

　　Other software can help firms find potential malefactors moronic enough to gripe online,says Jean-Fran?ois Legault of Deloitte, another consultancy.

　　還有其他軟件可以幫助公司發現在網上抱怨的笨蛋，識別潛在罪犯，另一會計師事務所德勤的Jean-Fran?ois Legault說。

　　To work well, linguistic software must adjust to the way different people talk.

　　為了產生效果，語言識別軟件必須根據不同人群的交談方式調整偵測。

　　For example, when software gurus at E Y looked at e-mails among financial traders,their first impression was that these guys hair is on fire, recalls Vincent Walden, afraudbuster at the firm. The e-mails were packed solid with swear-words.

　　例如，安永公司的軟件專家檢查金融交易員彼此的電子郵件時，他們的第一反應就是 這些小伙子火氣很大 ，該公司的反欺詐專員文森特?瓦爾登說。

　　But this is how traders normally talk.

　　這些電子郵件中特別多的污言穢語。

　　It is when they go quiet that the software must prick up its electronic ears.

　　但交易員通常就是這么講話。反倒是在交易員安靜無聲的時候，該軟件必須保持警惕。

　　Dick Oehrle, the chief linguist on the project, explains how it works.

　　該項目的首席語言學家Dick Oehrle特別講解了該軟件的工作原理。

　　First, the algorithm digests a big bundle of e-mails to get used to employees language.

　　首先，計算程序中輸入眾多電子郵件，以熟悉雇員的語言。

　　Then human lawyers code the same e-mails, sorting things as irrelevant, relevant orserious.

　　然后由人類律師將同類郵件分為 無關 ， 相關 或 嚴重 等級別。

　　The human feedback and the computers results are then reconciled, so the system getssmarter.

　　人類反饋與電腦結果達成一致，那么這個系統就會變得靈巧。

　　Mr Oehrle says the lawyers also learn from the computers .

　　Oehrle先生說，律師也可通過電腦學習東西。

　　To find employees with the opportunity to steal, the software looks for what snoops call outof band events: messages such as call my mobile or come by my office suggest a desireto talk without being overheard.

　　為了找到有盜竊機會的雇員，該軟件搜尋偵探所說的 域外 情形：例如 打我電話 或 來我辦公室 這類信息就表明不想談話被聽到。

　　E-mails between an employee and an outsider that contain the words beer , Facebook or evening can suggest a personal relationship.

　　雇員與公司外的人之間的電子郵件含有 啤酒 、 Facebook 或 晚上 這類詞匯就表明私交過密。

　　Your e-mails may be aired in court

　　您的電子郵件有可能作為成堂供物

　　Financial Tracking Technologies, a firm based in Connecticut, goes a step further, makingsoftware that can go through calendar apps and travel-expense claims to determine whohas come into contact with certain outside investors.

　　總部位于康涅狄格州的金融追蹤技術公司跟進一步，做出的軟件可以搜尋日歷應用程序及出差報銷單，以確認哪位成與某個外部投資商聯系。

　　This can be married with information about the timing of trades: for example, a short salebefore the public release of bad news, says Tony Turner, the company s boss.

　　該軟件可與交易時機有關的信息聯系到一起：如在壞消息公開之前拋售。該公司所有者托尼?特納說。

　　Or consider a broker who e-mails someone a question about the trading volume at which acertain stock would be likely to rise .

　　或者審核交易員向某人發送郵件詢問可能影響某只股票升的交易數量。

　　This might indicate an interest in manipulating the price.

　　這就有可能表明有操縱價格的傾向。

　　So the software will sift through other data to see if the broker would benefit, evenindirectly, perhaps by increasing the value of a derivative in his personal portfolio, saysFrederic Boulier, a Paris-based director of NICE Actimize, an American firm.

　　因此該軟件要過濾其他數據，以確定該交易員是否有可能通過增加個人投資組合中一個衍生品的價值來獲利，總部位于巴黎的美國公司NICE Actimize的經理Frederic Boulier說。

　　Employers without such technology are operating blind , says Alton Sizemore, a formerfraud detective at America s FBI.

　　偵測人員沒有此類技術的協助就會 盲目操作 ，一位前美國聯邦調查局反欺詐探員奧爾頓?希斯莫爾說。

　　They often pursue costly investigations based on hunches, which are usually wrong, hesays.

　　根據直覺進行的調查通常是錯誤的，而且耗費很高，他說。

　　Mr Sizemore, who now works for Forensic/Strategic Solutions, an anti-fraud consultancy inAlabama, reckons that nearly all giant financial firms now run anti-fraud linguistic software,but fewer than half of medium-sized or small financial firms do.

　　希斯莫爾先生先任職于總部位于阿拉巴馬州的反欺詐咨詢公司法庭/戰略解決方案公司，他認為幾乎所有大型金融公司現在都有反欺詐語言識別軟件，但是投入力度仍不及中小型金融公司的一半。

　　So there is plenty of room for growth.

　　因此，此類軟件還有很大的增長空間。

　　NICE Actimize says its revenues are steadily rising, though it declines to give figures.

　　NICE Actimize說該公司的收益逐年上升，但其拒絕提供數據。

　　Prospective users typically pay for a single snapshot search of 12 months of companyrecords, according to APEX Analytix, a developer of the software in Greensboro, NorthCarolina.

　　據位于北開羅萊納州格林斯博羅的軟件開發商APEX Analytix稱，潛在用戶特別會購買公司全年12月數據 快照 搜尋的單一服務。

　　For a company with 10,000 employees, this costs about $45,000.

　　對一間有萬名員工的公司來說，此項花費約4.5萬美元。

　　Unless a company is very small, evidence of fraud almost always surfaces, convincingclients to sign up for a yearly package that costs three or four times as much as a spot-check, says John Brocar of APEX Analytix.

　　除非公司規模很小，使用軟件欺詐的證據總會查到，APEX Analytix公司的約翰?博羅卡意圖說服客戶簽購要比抽查貴兩到三倍的全年軟件包時說。

　　Why spend the money?

　　為什么要花這筆錢?

　　Partly because no one likes to be ripped off.

　　部分原因是沒有公司愿意被竊取資產。

　　But also because laws on bribery have grown tougher.

　　而且也因為賄賂監管法律越來越嚴厲。

　　American bosses can in theory be jailed if their underlings grease palms.

　　如果美國公司的老總們的下屬有賄賂行為，理論上他們也會受刑。

　　Jonas Dischl-Luell of AWK Group, a Swiss firm, sells software that scans e-mail addresses tosee if any employees are in contact, even indirectly, with officials in corrupt governments.

　　瑞士AKW集團的Jonas Dischl-Luell銷售搜尋電子郵件地址，查看是否有員工與腐敗政府的官員有往來，甚至是間接往來。

　　If a company shows it has systems in place to detect this kind of thing, and startsinvestigating before outsiders do, it may have an easier time in court.

　　如果一間公司證明已安裝偵查此類行為的系統，并在外部進行調查前已先行展開調查，那么在法庭上便有據可出，從容應對。

　　Corporate fraud

　　公司欺詐行為

　　Mind your language

　　謹言慎行

　　How linguistic software helps companies catch crooks

　　語言識別軟件幫助公司擒獲不法之徒

　　IN THE film Superman 3 , a lowly computer programmer embezzles a fat wad of money from his employer.

　　在電影《超人3》中，一位地位低的電腦程序員盜走雇主一大筆錢。

　　The boss laments that it will be hard to catch the thief, because he won t do a thing to callattention to himself. Unless, of course, he is a complete and utter moron.

　　老板悲傷至極，哀嚎著抓住竊賊可不容易，因為 竊賊可不會顯露自己的蹤跡，除非他完全是個十足的傻瓜。

　　Just then the thief screeches into the car park in a brand new red sports car, radio blaring.

　　就在此時，竊賊溜到停車場，鉆進一輛全新的紅色跑車中，廣播大聲響起。

　　In the real world, embezzlers are seldom so obvious.

　　現實世界中，盜賊很少如此名目張膽。

　　The traditional way to snare them is to hire an accountant to scrutinise accounts foranomalies.

　　要抓到他們的傳統方法就是雇傭一位會計，審查賬戶不正常交易。

　　But this is like looking for a contact lens in a snowdrift.

　　但是這就像是在飄雪中找尋隱形眼鏡。

　　So firms are turning to linguistic software to narrow the search.

　　因此，公司就借助語言識別軟件來縮小搜查范圍。

　　Rip-offs tend to occur in what gumshoes call the fraud triangle : where incentive,rationalisation and opportunity meet.

　　盜竊常常出現于偵探所說的 詐騙三因素 ，即動機、理由及機會三者相滿足的時候。

　　To spot staff with the incentive to steal , anti-fraud software scans e-mails for evidence of money troubles.

　　為了識別有偷竊動機的員工，反欺詐偵破軟件搜尋郵件尋找有財務問題的證據。

　　Phrases like under the gun and make sales quota can indicate that an employee isdesperate for a bit extra.

　　或許像 債臺高筑 與 限額銷售 會表明有雇員急需一筆意外之財。

　　Spotting rationalisation is harder.

　　要找到合理的理由就更難。

　　One technique is to identify those who seem unhappy about their jobs, since some mayrationalise wrongdoing by telling themselves that their employer is an evil corporationthat deserves to be ripped off.

　　一種技巧就是找到似乎對自己的工作不滿意的員工，因為有些人可能會告訴自己雇主是家品行不端的公司，遭到竊取利索應當，以此為自己的犯罪行為找到理由。

　　Ernst Young , a consultancy, offers software that purports to show anemployee s emotional state over time: spikes in trend-lines reading confused , secretive or angry help investigators know whose e-mail to check, and when.

　　安永會計師事務所多提供的軟件據稱可追蹤雇員不同時間內的情緒變化：趨勢線中的峰值顯示 困惑 ， 秘密 或 憤怒 ，幫助調查者知道該檢查誰的電子郵件，何時檢查。

　　Other software can help firms find potential malefactors moronic enough to gripe online,says Jean-Fran?ois Legault of Deloitte, another consultancy.

　　還有其他軟件可以幫助公司發現在網上抱怨的笨蛋，識別潛在罪犯，另一會計師事務所德勤的Jean-Fran?ois Legault說。

　　To work well, linguistic software must adjust to the way different people talk.

　　為了產生效果，語言識別軟件必須根據不同人群的交談方式調整偵測。

　　For example, when software gurus at E Y looked at e-mails among financial traders,their first impression was that these guys hair is on fire, recalls Vincent Walden, afraudbuster at the firm. The e-mails were packed solid with swear-words.

　　例如，安永公司的軟件專家檢查金融交易員彼此的電子郵件時，他們的第一反應就是 這些小伙子火氣很大 ，該公司的反欺詐專員文森特?瓦爾登說。

　　But this is how traders normally talk.

　　這些電子郵件中特別多的污言穢語。

　　It is when they go quiet that the software must prick up its electronic ears.

　　但交易員通常就是這么講話。反倒是在交易員安靜無聲的時候，該軟件必須保持警惕。

　　Dick Oehrle, the chief linguist on the project, explains how it works.

　　該項目的首席語言學家Dick Oehrle特別講解了該軟件的工作原理。

　　First, the algorithm digests a big bundle of e-mails to get used to employees language.

　　首先，計算程序中輸入眾多電子郵件，以熟悉雇員的語言。

　　Then human lawyers code the same e-mails, sorting things as irrelevant, relevant orserious.

　　然后由人類律師將同類郵件分為 無關 ， 相關 或 嚴重 等級別。

　　The human feedback and the computers results are then reconciled, so the system getssmarter.

　　人類反饋與電腦結果達成一致，那么這個系統就會變得靈巧。

　　Mr Oehrle says the lawyers also learn from the computers .

　　Oehrle先生說，律師也可通過電腦學習東西。

　　To find employees with the opportunity to steal, the software looks for what snoops call outof band events: messages such as call my mobile or come by my office suggest a desireto talk without being overheard.

　　為了找到有盜竊機會的雇員，該軟件搜尋偵探所說的 域外 情形：例如 打我電話 或 來我辦公室 這類信息就表明不想談話被聽到。

　　E-mails between an employee and an outsider that contain the words beer , Facebook or evening can suggest a personal relationship.

　　雇員與公司外的人之間的電子郵件含有 啤酒 、 Facebook 或 晚上 這類詞匯就表明私交過密。

　　Your e-mails may be aired in court

　　您的電子郵件有可能作為成堂供物

　　Financial Tracking Technologies, a firm based in Connecticut, goes a step further, makingsoftware that can go through calendar apps and travel-expense claims to determine whohas come into contact with certain outside investors.

　　總部位于康涅狄格州的金融追蹤技術公司跟進一步，做出的軟件可以搜尋日歷應用程序及出差報銷單，以確認哪位成與某個外部投資商聯系。

　　This can be married with information about the timing of trades: for example, a short salebefore the public release of bad news, says Tony Turner, the company s boss.

　　該軟件可與交易時機有關的信息聯系到一起：如在壞消息公開之前拋售。該公司所有者托尼?特納說。

　　Or consider a broker who e-mails someone a question about the trading volume at which acertain stock would be likely to rise .

　　或者審核交易員向某人發送郵件詢問可能影響某只股票升的交易數量。

　　This might indicate an interest in manipulating the price.

　　這就有可能表明有操縱價格的傾向。

　　So the software will sift through other data to see if the broker would benefit, evenindirectly, perhaps by increasing the value of a derivative in his personal portfolio, saysFrederic Boulier, a Paris-based director of NICE Actimize, an American firm.

　　因此該軟件要過濾其他數據，以確定該交易員是否有可能通過增加個人投資組合中一個衍生品的價值來獲利，總部位于巴黎的美國公司NICE Actimize的經理Frederic Boulier說。

　　Employers without such technology are operating blind , says Alton Sizemore, a formerfraud detective at America s FBI.

　　偵測人員沒有此類技術的協助就會 盲目操作 ，一位前美國聯邦調查局反欺詐探員奧爾頓?希斯莫爾說。

　　They often pursue costly investigations based on hunches, which are usually wrong, hesays.

　　根據直覺進行的調查通常是錯誤的，而且耗費很高，他說。

　　Mr Sizemore, who now works for Forensic/Strategic Solutions, an anti-fraud consultancy inAlabama, reckons that nearly all giant financial firms now run anti-fraud linguistic software,but fewer than half of medium-sized or small financial firms do.

　　希斯莫爾先生先任職于總部位于阿拉巴馬州的反欺詐咨詢公司法庭/戰略解決方案公司，他認為幾乎所有大型金融公司現在都有反欺詐語言識別軟件，但是投入力度仍不及中小型金融公司的一半。

　　So there is plenty of room for growth.

　　因此，此類軟件還有很大的增長空間。

　　NICE Actimize says its revenues are steadily rising, though it declines to give figures.

　　NICE Actimize說該公司的收益逐年上升，但其拒絕提供數據。

　　Prospective users typically pay for a single snapshot search of 12 months of companyrecords, according to APEX Analytix, a developer of the software in Greensboro, NorthCarolina.

　　據位于北開羅萊納州格林斯博羅的軟件開發商APEX Analytix稱，潛在用戶特別會購買公司全年12月數據 快照 搜尋的單一服務。

　　For a company with 10,000 employees, this costs about $45,000.

　　對一間有萬名員工的公司來說，此項花費約4.5萬美元。

　　Unless a company is very small, evidence of fraud almost always surfaces, convincingclients to sign up for a yearly package that costs three or four times as much as a spot-check, says John Brocar of APEX Analytix.

　　除非公司規模很小，使用軟件欺詐的證據總會查到，APEX Analytix公司的約翰?博羅卡意圖說服客戶簽購要比抽查貴兩到三倍的全年軟件包時說。

　　Why spend the money?

　　為什么要花這筆錢?

　　Partly because no one likes to be ripped off.

　　部分原因是沒有公司愿意被竊取資產。

　　But also because laws on bribery have grown tougher.

　　而且也因為賄賂監管法律越來越嚴厲。

　　American bosses can in theory be jailed if their underlings grease palms.

　　如果美國公司的老總們的下屬有賄賂行為，理論上他們也會受刑。

　　Jonas Dischl-Luell of AWK Group, a Swiss firm, sells software that scans e-mail addresses tosee if any employees are in contact, even indirectly, with officials in corrupt governments.

　　瑞士AKW集團的Jonas Dischl-Luell銷售搜尋電子郵件地址，查看是否有員工與腐敗政府的官員有往來，甚至是間接往來。

　　If a company shows it has systems in place to detect this kind of thing, and startsinvestigating before outsiders do, it may have an easier time in court.

　　如果一間公司證明已安裝偵查此類行為的系統，并在外部進行調查前已先行展開調查，那么在法庭上便有據可出，從容應對。