1972: How to commit COMPUTER FRAUD - 70s style | Tomorrow’s World | Retro Tech | BBC Archive

The crime of the future will be computer crime. A few weeks ago, Guy Parker stole a considerable sum of money from a company, without arising any suspicion from its employees. Guy Parker is not a criminal, he is a computer security expert - and he is going to show Tomorrow's World precisely how he stole £34,563.28 using nothing but a smart suit, a pen and the inherently trusting nature of computers.
Originally broadcast, 28 March, 1972.
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[@davidpanton3192]

Anybody who could get all those steps right deserved the money.

[@ricksanchez3628]

Right lol

[@davedogge2280]

you've got a point, I worked in a Merchant Bank in London in the late 90s and there was a guy who worked in payments who tried to do a fraud paying money into his bank account, he made a mistake though, it was spotted and the police were called. I dunno the details as this happened a month or so before I joined.

[@ricksanchez3628]

@@davedogge2280 magnetic ink

[@davedogge2280]

@@ricksanchez3628 possibly I dunno this must have been 1998. But he was a fool, where was he going to go with the money, I dunno how much he tried to deposit but even if it was more than £250K back then even the receiving bank would have quizzed it and where was he going to go to spend it ?!?

[@straightpipediesel]

£35k in 1972 = £513k today. That's 20 years of an median British salary, and 5 years of a nice one. So if he spends a month or two on the steps, and has to do them over, he's still way ahead.

[@danielf1313]

The attempts of anyone following this blueprint nowadays would be foiled immediately by the absence of cigarette machines in corporate offices. 😂

[@kishascape]

It’s still actually doable though. I remember people doing something similar back in 2010, ATMs apparently still used old school computer connections like from the time of this video and remained unencrypted so people would position a small wiretap somewhere down the line it used with a small microcomputer like the new raspberry pi at the time and have it communicate with the ATM so you could use a blank card to make it spit out all its money.

[@edwardcheves9106]

Absence of cigarette machines in general. Haven't seen one in decades!

[@Keithbarber]

@@edwardcheves9106 or smoking in general is less prevalent

[@precumming]

@@edwardcheves9106 Buying cigarettes requires proof of age which means doing it over the counter

[@lumemaa7]

😂😂

[@scottishwildcat]

I know the paperless office is still a bit of a myth, but you forget just how *much* paper there used to be.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

A bit of a myth? No it’s a huge myth and isn’t true in the slightest

[@UXXV]

From 1972 here to the film Sneakers in 1992 to present day social engineering, fishing emails and ransomware ... a 50 year journey

[@daffyduk77]

re: social engineering - a certain amount of psychology went into that scam model

[@stepheningermany]

Amazing how detailed this explanation is... almost like they wanted people to try it.

[@danellis-jones1591]

Was there a time where a complete stranger could just stroll around an office without being asked who they were?

[@ajs41]

Of course. There are still some places where you can today.

[@user-un9go4qe5i]

@@ajs41 Can you name a few of them, please. With addresses...

[@ajs41]

@@user-un9go4qe5i In places like Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, etc, in small businesses in rural areas. They don't have the same obsession with security that big countries like the USA and UK have.

[@hoofie2002]

In many places a high vis and a clipboard is all you need. We had someone walk around unchallenged round an office and factory by walking in the main door. It was a test by security but all hell broke loose afterwards.

[@southlondon86]

4:26 the reflection on the right - the director waves the actor to come in 😂

[@theculturedthug6609]

😂

[@coloradostrong]

Good find.

[@dronespace]

😂😂😂😂

[@littlefluffybushbaby7256]

Good spot! Obvious, once you'd pointed it out. We definitely need you in office security.

[@walkingtheboogie]

Fascinating and it ends with an encouragement for us to litter our streets. 🤣 In all seriousness though it really was fascinating.

[@saxongreen78]

True...but it was a redundant encouragement: almost everyone did it anyway! (Urban pollution was appalling here in Aussie back then - smog, litter, dogshit and putrid, dead waterways full of car bodies and old cots.)

[@tsmith7146]

James Burke is brilliant. His unique voice is such a vivid memory from my childhood. The voice of the Apollo missions on the BBC.

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

How was he? All he’s bleating on about is criminals using “he” and “him” as if women never committed crimes. Really weird guy

[@kiteracer95]

@@handsoffmycactus2958 back to Twitter with you

[@RobCCTV]

James Burke spoke with a clear voice of authority on many subjects. He and Raymond Baxter truly represented a very positive future to me, as I watched EVERY episode of Tomorrow's World.

[@traceya9615]

Yes, he was very clear and interesting to watch. Excellent.

[@zordorfe]

@@handsoffmycactus2958 bro is pressed about THAT??

[@morebasheder]

It'll be fine, that Hillman Avenger will breakdown within 50 yards, enabling him to be caught 🤣

[@mikemartin2957]

Now if he drove a Viva or an Escort they probably wouldn't start!

[@littlefluffybushbaby7256]

I owned a Hillman Avenger and can vouch for that.

[@morebasheder]

@@littlefluffybushbaby7256 haha yeah my dad had one that did that 🤣

[@mattdavies7398]

BL Marina, 25 yards

[@DCI-Frank-Burnside]

When hacking into a computer was a literal phrase.

[@GeVeBeGaming]

I tried this recently and failed hard, It seems the TV crew following me got noticed.....Bahhhh

[@jonathang8263]

So all I have to do, is get past building security, get past the receptionist in the specific office, find the printout showing the suppliers that company does business with (including and especially the ones they haven't done business with in ages), find all the company paperwork, create a bogus company with a bank account, wander round the office unquestioned and unobserved, change some account details, insert my bogus invoice for my bogus company with a real bank account, forge some signatures, enter it all into the company computer system, wander round a bit more totally unobserved, leave and wait to get paid and get away with it with nobody any the wiser? It sounds like a piece of piss and I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner.

[@BBCArchive]

Yup! Easy money.

[@luntaw]

🤣

[@danyoutube7491]

I think the trickiest part is part 9- if I've understood correctly, you need to know how much is going to be paid to you, but I don't see how someone from outside the company (the thief) would know that.

[@ajs41]

Most offices didn't have any security until relatively recently.

[@soup_pigeon]

bbc archive is one of my fave channels at the moment

[@MrSimonmcc]

Ditto.

[@Rust_in_Time]

The irony that the 1970s cyber criminal mastermind drives a Hillman Avenger....

[@politesociety]

Someone gotta avenge the Hill man.

[@davidtexmex1616]

The main message; littering is cool.

[@thomasm1964]

Midland Bank! Now that really IS a blast from the past!

[@traceya9615]

Oh yes, the so-called "listening bank"! 😆

[@Keithbarber]

@@traceya9615 I banked with them 1989-90 The listening bank? I always said they needed a hearing aid.....

[@traceya9615]

@@Keithbarber 😂 I quite understand! I was stuck with their Northern Irish version, "The Northern Bank" in the early 80s as a student and the manager in particular was a nightmare. My friend used to do a great impression of him saying, "I'll have to take your cheque book away!!" 💩 to deal with!

[@Rust_in_Time]

These days you don't even need to go into the building....you just sit in your lurid, atmospherically darkened bedroom hunched over a laptop with a palid, carbuncular complexion!

[@ricksanchez3628]

I got caught at the stationary cupboard

[@dissonantdreams]

Well, if the smartest man in the universe can’t get this right, there’s no hope for the rest of us 😂

[@depniff]

Most cupboards are stationary. Even the stationery ones don't move a lot. Sorry...

[@ricksanchez3628]

@@dissonantdreams I was waxing a Claborkean

[@southwestshelly]

don't make it easy to get past the receptionist - well GP surgeries have really taken that one to heart.

[@politesociety]

I sure am in the mood for an overly elaborate heist right now.

[@alexandertroy9621]

I'm in!

[@CricketEngland]

Security was extremely lacking back in the 70’s I worked in the finance department for a large company in the 80’s processing expense claim payments and has access to set up employees on the system, so could have quite easily set up a bogus account added expenses to that account (under the company check limit) and paid myself a nice amount each week (originally by cheques back then and later via BACS transfer). I didn’t of course as I liked the job and was very good at it but it was possible, until I mentioned it to management and changes were put in place about setting up accounts.

[@smadaf]

I should hope your reason for being honest was not that you liked the job but that you liked honesty, liked yourself, liked fair play, and understood that the best one to uphold your values was you.

[@alexandertroy9621]

What a stooge. I bet you would have liked your beach house in Costa Rica a whole lot more than that job!

[@eduardoarmenta9232]

@@alexandertroy9621 Better to have a job you like than risk going to jail. If he figured that out, others could too. A common mistake for criminals is to think they outsmarted the system and everyone in it. There's always a flaw in every plan, so to get away with it you'll need plenty of luck.

[@kishascape]

Still is today

[@DavidPaulMorgan]

I always thought a good time to do this would be at a time of transition - eg Local Government reorgs. set up a company a few months or years before and get on the suppliers list and do some business. During the confusion during transition, that's the time to do the invoicing type frauds.

[@jdm65]

This is awesome - great to see James Burke. And those 70s fashions were special....

[@kishascape]

I like those computers. Looks like a system built around the IBM 1401

[@roaarylion5214]

They were terrible

[@DrumToTheBassWoop]

6:15 as soon as someone asks for a packet of cigarettes in an office, that's your clue.

[@DannyBPlays]

When I go overboard trying to protect something, I usually end up saying to myself "if they figure this out, they deserve the xyz that I'm trying to hide/protect". This video is one of those times

[@MattTweeks]

"Yes hello mam I'm from Amazon tech support, you have a hackers on your PC"

[@jasonayres]

That's funny. I'm a Nigerian prince, with a UK email address (- you won't ask why-), and I need to get a lot of money out of the country. Could you send me your bank details?

[@migue897]

70s: "Computer will trust anybody" Today's computers: "Even though I look at you and you look like you, how do I know even you're you?"

[@marcse7en]

Today's computers, WON'T recognise my finger print, WON'T recognise my face, and WON'T accept my password! Yes, security has DEFINITELY improved in 52 years! 👍🤣

[@bombski5657]

Shame he didn't get a fixed penalty notice for littering at the end, that would've been the definition of irony.

[@maigretus1]

No, irony would have been if the "thief" showed up after he left, picked up the pieces of the check and pulled out a roll of Scotch Tape. 😦

[@tasercs]

Where I work, nobody is busy so even if Guy made it through reception, swipe card access, metal detector, X-ray machine and other physical restrictions, he would be spotted and 'taken down' by a vigilant member of staff with plenty of time on their hands. Obviously, nowadays Guy would just pretend he was from Nigeria and ask 20,000 unsuspecting random people via SMS, for their bank account details and sort code so that he can transfer the money they had luckily won - all from the comfort of his own home.

[@solidstate0]

A 419 Guy. Do you think he'd still be driving an Avenger?

[@ajs41]

Why is nobody busy where you work?

[@Seminal_Ideas]

I can just imagine him pulling this off and then trying to start his lamentable Hillman Avenger only for it to conk out.

[@exiles_dot_tv]

Just casually littering at the end

[@video99couk]

I like his taste in cars. But then I drive a 1972 Hillman Avenger myself.

[@brianartillery]

The most worrying thing nowadays is that a lot of workplaces had cigarette vending machines.

[@Ken.-]

I like how the onus of the entire company's financial security is placed on a receptionist.

[@tharoog]

3:13 the girls aren't paid to ask questions

[@Richard-dt4ft]

The lady at 2:46 in the background knows something is up 🧐

[@vincen4943]

The legend James Burke,BBC’s Mr Apollo Moon Missions!🚀

[@DavidPaulMorgan]

just love James Burke articles & programmes. Always interesting.

[@littlemisssunshiney7]

Thank you I will be trying this the next time I am in the 1970s

[@theaylesburycyclist8756]

When littering was socially acceptable. Ah, the good old 70s.

[@royalbloodedledgend]

This is cutting edge stuff! Very informative

[@rogersmith8339]

Where I worked a few years after this, the computer was the size of my current house!

[@endlessnameless6628]

Got to love the 70's 'I need cigarettes, do you have any?' 'Of course! What kind of daycare do you think we're running here?'

[@ewaf88]

However there was an enemy of punched cards, the rain. especially if you'd forgotten your umbrella.

[@Vedrajrm]

“Paper is worthless until it’s written on, protect it” wow, that one’s a thinker

[@fcrick6967]

"Paper's worthless until it's written on; protect it!" 🤣 ...he left the torn cheque on the ground 🤣 ah, simple times

[@MilkShake]

Full bundle crime jazz footage 👌

[@DCI-Frank-Burnside]

Is there anywhere I can pick up a pack of tabs, love? I'm here to pull of a complicated invoice scam, and me nerves are chattering like mad. Just in the canteen, over there.

[@pipmcg1]

Hahahaha!

[@drbop6951]

Lol. Hi, my name is Guy Parker. Don't mind me and my six man film crew wondering around your building...

[@maigretus1]

Aaaaand at 8:30 he commits another security no-no: He tears up the check and just tosses it. As Danny DeVito's Penguin said, "A little tape and a lot of patience, makes all the difference." Writing "Void" across the front and back is better. Or burning it.

[@ianofliverpool7701]

I don't believe for one minute that somebody would get away with all that.

[@MD-fu6ly]

They did.

[@ajs41]

I do. The whole idea of security in offices didn't become a thing until the late 80s / early 90s.

[@Monkey80llx]

It was the 28p that rang alarm bells! 😆

[@JosiahGould]

2022 - Convince people to invest in digital pictures.

[@plumjet0930]

Thanks for the tutorial

[@AbsolutelyAverage]

Tutt Tutt, Keep Britain Tidy would have had a letter from Mary Whitehouse after this episode

[@user-un9go4qe5i]

2:45 she's suspicious already...

[@simonpark843]

The Stationary Cupboard, eh? This is brilliant stuff.

[@CianODonnell]

Haha the original invoice redirect fraud thats still going on today.

[@chickencrackling]

Just tried this. Didn’t work.

[@dextrovix3057]

Whereas the biggest crime nowadays would be the litter thrown at the end...

[@hoofie2002]

James Burke - fantastic

[@yakacm]

On a trip to London last year, I saw James Burke walking thru Selfridges, obviously he was wearing a mac.

[@79narz]

Never in a million years was he “undercover “ 😂 cameras followed him everywhere!

[@Minalkra]

They said it was a recreation of the events.

[@marcse7en]

Today's computers, WON'T recognise my finger print, WON'T recognise my face, and WON'T accept my password! Yes, security has DEFINITELY improved in 52 years! 👍🤣

[@PS-Straya_M8]

LoL anyone who could move around seamlessly without anyone noticing deserves the money!

[@ajs41]

This was how life was in the 1970s. You could walk around an office in a big company and people wouldn't notice you as long as you looked fairly ordinary.

[@Ken.-]

nice cut at the end. You know James kept the money.

[@misspurrr-fect3684]

Now all completely achievable via a gaming chair in Nigeria .

[@asd36f]

Wow betide if you dropped all of those punch cards on the floor LOL

[@JustMyFish]

He should’ve been fined for littering at the end 🤣

[@dangerman8625]

I like the way, he made litter with the cheque, he should have put the paper in the correct place, IE, a bin.!.

[@808music3]

Finally,he almost forgot he had to tore the check up. Way a go sunshine.😂

[@richardmorris4842]

It’s incredible to think those Nigerian Princes are doing this kind of process all the time.

[@esssexboy]

The very next day he traded his Hillman Avenger in for a Jaguar E -type

[@Alex58399]

£360,000 in today’s money

[@joebenge3920]

Anyone else notice the edit as he tears the cheque up at the end?

[@marksc111]

Litterbug

[@BBCArchive]

You put the boom-boom into my heart You send my soul sky-high When your lovin' starts...

[@davidtexmex1616]

@@BBCArchive BBC Archive, I like your style 🫶🏻

[@mackyj7801]

@@BBCArchive brillant!

[@handsoffmycactus2958]

It’s paper

[@marksc111]

@@handsoffmycactus2958 Very good

[@jeffreyhunt1727]

The specific items of technology are old, but the techniques used today are all the same: Deception, confidence, trust. Humans are the weakest link in any security system.

[@robertgolding]

Littering - seventies style

[@dtvfan24]

So awesome. Even in 21sr C, laptops lefr around on trains etc. Encrypt encrypt encrypt and use 2FA keys

[@chuckufarlie8215]

Anyone know the song at the beginning? I figure it might be incidental music from some library, commissioned by the program by a small act or studio players but if that's an actual commercially released single I'd really like to know. Sounds truly heavy.

[@frankryan2505]

Social engineering.. Hasn't changed that much.

[@omercan71]

in the 70s we all threw our waste out the car window

[@brendandelaney255]

I'm really curious! Would this film help companies avoid computer fraud, or just show more people how to do it

[@ajs41]

Most big companies probably put more security in place as a result of this report.

[@mattdavies7398]

"Stage 63...."

[@ringosmusic2598]

What’s the song in the beginning

[@jagmarc]

A few weeks after this the Metropolitan Police mopped up 100s of criminals they had been watching, who tried this out

[@thrilhous]

Did office workers in the '70s not know their co-workers? Who would let some total stranger have free reign of their office?

[@paulwoodbridge7896]

Exactly my thoughts too well done 👏 ✔

[@straightpipediesel]

Big companies. People always coming and going, you have consultants and vendors and temps.

[@scottishwildcat]

I didn't know most of the people on my floor when I last worked in an office, let alone the whole building.

[@tinglestingles]

I started working in 1978 - no one asked questions, keep your head down and just do your job.

[@-_James_-]

I hardly know anyone in the company I work for outside of my immediate team. You need to swipe a security card to get through all exterior doors though and some interior ones, so if I saw someone in the building I didn't know, I wouldn't think anything of it. Carrying piles of paper around would be a bit of a giveaway these days though. 🤣

[@conorspence5332]

He just assumed there would be cigarettes for sale at the canteen 😂

[@mikeparrysatwat]

Bloody hell James Burke is still alive 85 years old.....from the time the BBC was worth watching

[@scottishwildcat]

There was an excellent documentary on the BBC tonight about the new James Webb telescope, shame you missed it because you didn't think it was worth watching.

[@geofferzh79]

Was that 1970s drum & bass ?

[@saxongreen78]

Stephen Fry was already an old hand at this by 1972!

[@theculturedthug6609]

How do you mean?

[@saxongreen78]

@@theculturedthug6609 He got busted for financial embezzlement when he was 13yo.

[@SciFiAssasin]

Pick up your litter!

[@billymcquade3865]

Most companies would operate a 3 way matching system where any invoice would have to be matched to a prior purchase order and a goods receipt note (if the invoice was for physical goods rather than services). This would be true of any system, computer or not. I suppose our mastermind could start by stealing stationary for a purchase order after he had modified the company account prior to stealing the stationary for the invoice then stealing the goods receipt note etc. Still another few additional steps to get to the £34K. All to fail when exception reports were generated for things like Amended Accounts etc.

[@dieseldragon6756]

I would’ve thought *any* order of £34,000 for stationary would constitute an exception, especially in 1972! 😋 Granted; During the pandemic that might have been within normal parameters for most offices (As that would be a 36 pack of loo roll. 🧻) but now?… 🎈💸⏫🙃

[@jasonedwards6870]

This is an RD Wingfield plotline I feel sure 😵

[@MagikGimp]

The (very) old social engineering switcheroo.

[@twitchygiraffe4636]

That could’ve been anyone’s hands and any cheque being torn up at the end!! For all we know that presenter probably cashed it and had a good spend up at Harrods!!!!

[@cz2301]

Reporter: gets a fine for littering in the end of the video

[@JasmineSurrealVideos]

I don't think there were enough steps in this do it by numbers crime clip, or enough references to paper.

[@mjowsey]

see where trusting ppl will get you!!

[@dieseldragon6756]

1472: People get robbed by highwaymen. 1972: Companies get robbed by highly skilled people. 2022: People get robbed by highly protected companies…

[@MD-fu6ly]

Whoa dude that's so deep

[@yolosdeathdave]

*The Computer Trusts Everybody*