# The Superman rounding off the pennies scam

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superman-rounding-off-the-pennies-scam/546016>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 8, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superman-rounding-off-the-pennies-scam/546016 "2010-07-08T21:39:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Livardo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/43a26b/32.png) [@Livardo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Livardo)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superman-rounding-off-the-pennies-scam/546016/1 "2010-07-08T21:39:30Z")

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Also featured in “Office Space”.

Has it ever been attempted in real life?

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**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superman-rounding-off-the-pennies-scam/546016/2 "2010-07-08T21:52:31Z")

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> **[Salami slicing tactics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salami_slicing)**
>
> Salami slicing tactics, also known as salami slicing, salami tactics, the salami-slice strategy, or salami attacks, is the practice of using a series of many small actions to produce a much larger action or result that would be difficult or unlawful to perform all at once.
> Politically, the term is used to describe a divide and conquer process of threats and alliances used to overcome opposition. With it, an aggressor can influence and eventually dominate a landscape, typically political, in piec...

Short answer: yes.

I learned that this was the formal term for such schemes when reviewing a contract that stipulated that the software program I was hired to write must not contain any salamis.

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superman-rounding-off-the-pennies-scam/546016/3 "2010-07-08T22:06:51Z")

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I remember hearing the urban legend about this in the late 1960’s. Supposedly the programmer was caught when some little old lady asked the bank president where her fractions of a cent in interest were going.

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2010, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-superman-rounding-off-the-pennies-scam/546016/4 "2010-07-08T22:32:09Z")

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A recent case involving credit card fees:  
[FTC Obtains Court Order Halting International Scheme Responsible For More Than $10 Million In Unauthorized Charges On Consumers’ Credit and Debit Cards](http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/06/adele.shtm) ([ftc.gov](http://ftc.gov), 28 June 2010)

> [@](#):
>
> At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal court has halted an elaborate international scheme that used identity theft to place more than $10 million in bogus charges on consumers’ credit and debit cards, pending a trial. … Most consumers either didn’t notice the charges on their bills or didn’t seek chargebacks because of the small amounts – _charges ranged from 20 cents to $10._

(italics mine, to emphasize the small amounts)