Career

How to deal with narcissistic, toxic leaders

Every organization has them: toxic leaders who sacrifice others for their selfish needs. At the very least, these managers can make our jobs difficult or derail our investigations and, at worst, commit fraud. Here’s how to deal with them.

Tania Ramirez, CFE

Tania Ramirez started her career as an internal auditor, working at such organizations as Canadian National Railway, McGill University and consultant Protiviti. She soon discovered she had a knack for uncovering dubious transactions. That talent catapulted her into the world of fraud investigations and landed her a dream job at Randstad, a global leader in the human resources services industry, where she now combines both skills to uncover cybercrimes, occupational fraud and other types of fraudulent activity.

CFE Exam moves to Prometric testing platform and the ACFE COVID-19 Benchmarking Report

Adjusting to a new reality

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work and provided an opportunity for fraudsters to scam the populace like never before. The ACFE Board of Regents looks back on its experiences and provides advice on how to fight fraud in this post-coronavirus landscape.

Readying the hybrid model

The ACFE returned with its second virtual ACFE Global Fraud Conference in June, topping last year’s event with a string of new features and record attendance. A hybrid model is in the cards for next year’s conference in Nashville.

Calibrate your professional skepticism: How to modulate your skepticism threshold to better spot red flags

An auditor applied the correct level of skepticism and uncovered the largest government misappropriation, $6.9 million, in Washington state’s history. Here’s how the team investigated the crime, and how you can modulate your skepticism threshold to better spot red flags and evidence that otherwise might have remained hidden.

Gifts of mentoring

Most of us know it’s more “blessed to give than receive,” but hectic work and family schedules (and pesky pandemic problems) can keep us from imparting our knowledge. But don’t let lofty assumptions of mentorship keep you from the joy of giving newish fraud examiners the career boosts they need. Here are practical ways to get started.

Arpinder Singh, CFE

Arpinder Singh, CFE, got his start investigating fraud when he discovered the field of forensic accountancy just as India’s economy took off following sweeping reforms in the early 1990s. Forensics proved to be an excellent career choice as corporate India increasingly focused on governance issues, including fraud detection and prevention.

Reimagining audit quality using Wirecard and PCAOB examples

The Wirecard case and recent PCAOB inspection reports on the top six audit firms highlight continued issues with audit quality and the independent auditor’s responsibility in uncovering material misstatements due to fraud. They also emphasize the need for the auditing profession to hasten improvements.

Learning to speak the same fraud language

The FraudClassifier model, developed by a U.S. Federal Reserve-led industry work group, provides the payments industry with an intuitive classification approach to help fraud fighters get on the same page to understand the nature and magnitude of fraud.

What’s your IQ? (Influence quotient)

Learning how to connect with people emotionally can pay big dividends in any job. Showing empathy and finding ways to be relatable are an important part of “influential intelligence.” The positive use of language can make all the difference when engaging clients, interviewers and fraudsters.

Alan E. Small, CFE

Alan Small, CFE, first became acquainted with fraud investigations in 1973 as a member of the Baltimore (Maryland) Police Department. His first assignment was with the criminal investigation division where he reviewed and followed the assignments of experienced detectives engaged in the investigation of high-profile cases, which included fraud.