As war and terrorism preoccupy the nation, scam artists quietly continue to devise clever ways to rip off consumers and companies.
"Fraud is everywhere, and it is getting much worse," says Jim Baker, a former homicide investigator with the Dallas Police Department and now the head of Baker Technologies, an investigative firm in Rowlett, Texas.

Last year, U.S. companies lost $600 billion to fraud — a 50% jump from $400 billion in 1996, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a worldwide group of fraud investigators and auditors.

The Internet, new software, wireless and other computer technology ensure the rapid spread of new scams.

And the scams will be hard to slow, with the public and law enforcement still more concerned about street crimes than financial wrongdoing, Baker warns.

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