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ting the ID or password just as the prompt is flashing. And writing them down defeats the object.

The surveillance of Captain Zap began in May of 1981. Pat knew he was being watched because he saw a van with two men in it outside his apartment in West Philadelphia. He says they were FBI. By then Captain Zap's unorthodox buying spree had gone on for almost two years. Though each 'order' was relatively small, the companies that had been ripped off had been able to isolate the sales that appeared paid but for which they could find no corresponding cheque. They called the police.

There was, says Pat now, a trail of connections the authorities could follow. It led from the companies that had sold the goods to the mail drops and from there to Pat and the other people he worked with. The bust came at 10 a.m. on 2 July 1981. Agents from the FBI accompanied by state police from the White Collar Crime Unit, Bell Security representatives and two military policemen raided Pat's parents' home in Gladwyne. The maid answered the door.

Gladwyne is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Philadelphia; the homes are substantial, the residents well established. Pat's father owned and managed one of the largest and oldest shipping companies on the East Coast. When the newspapers got hold of the story, Pat and his friends would be castigated as 'children of privilege'.

The FBI presented Pat's mother with a thirty-seven-page document. 'We have a search warrant,' they said.
'For what?'
'For Pat. He's accused of computer fraud.'
His mother looked aghast. 'He couldn't pass mathematics. You're telling me he's a computer genius?'

The agents proceeded to tear apart Pat's room. They packed away all the computers, modems and communications gear they could find. They went through the files, stuffing them in boxes. When Pat came home that night his equipment had been cleared.

Pat was indicted on 21 September in both Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, for a number of offences, including theft of equipment - the $500,000 worth of computers and supplies - theft of telephone services and toll fraud. He was aged twenty-four at the

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