The use of the Internet to fraudulently promote stocks, e-mail schemes to sell suspect drugs, computer ploys to steal identities ? these dishonest practices and others are now mushrooming. A Securities and Exchange Commission official once wryly noted, “Any con artist not on the Internet should be sued for malpractice.”

With the widespread abuse of computer technology, we have the latest evidence that dishonesty is escalating in our society. The liar and the cheat have always been with us, but the prevalence of lying and the problems it causes have never been greater.