1 /************************************************
  2  * two_plus_two -- So what is 2+2 anyway?       *
  3  ************************************************/
  4 #include <stdio.h>
  5
  6 int main()
  7 {
  8     /* Result of the addition */
  9     int answer = 2 + 2;
 10
 11     printf("The answer is %d\n");
 12     return (0);
 13 }

At the bottom of your bank checks is a series of numbers that indicates your bank and account number. A crook opened an account in New York with $5. He then created his own checks. They where the same as his real checks except that the bank number was modified so that it referred to a bank in Los Angeles.

Next he opened another account in New York and used a $10,000 check for the initial deposit. The check went into the automatic sorting equipment, and the computer saw the bank number for Los Angeles and sent the check to L.A. The bank in L.A. saw that this check wasn't for it, so it sent the check back to the clearing house in New York. It went back in the automatic sorting equipment, the computer saw the L.A. bank number, and it's sent back to L.A.

The check was now in an endless cycle going back and forth between New York and L.A. While it circled round and round, the crook went to the bank where he deposited first the check and asked for all his money. The clerk looked up the last deposit, saw that it was two weeks ago, and assumed that the check had cleared. After all, it takes only a couple of days for a New York check to get to the proper bank. So the clerk gave the crook $10,000, and he disappeared.

Several weeks later, the check got so beat up that it could no longer be dumped in the automatic sorting equipment. So it was hand sorted and finally given to the right bank.

(This is called "cashing in on the float" in a big way.)