Global

Global deforestation facilitated via fraud

Illegal logging companies in the Amazon regions, which are driving deforestation, are using multiple fraud schemes. They include fake or forged permits based on fraudulent information; corruption and collusion of and with officials who are supposed to enforce timber regulations; and front companies to avoid taxes.

Fake calls from Amazon and Apple, vaccine scams, strengthening passwords

Amazon and Apple aren’t calling you to warn you of suspicious activity. And vaccine scammers are here. Plus don’t get lax in concocting new passwords.

Cobalt blues

The battery in your cellphone could be powered by cobalt derived from copper that exploited “artisanal miners” — often children — hand dug from open-pit mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. But a new DRC government could crack down on the illegal awarding of mine licenses, permits and contracts. And blockchain could make supply chains more transparent.

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.

Wirecard's house tumbles

Dan McCrum, an investigative reporter for the Financial Times, spent six years questioning the finances of Wirecard, Germany’s moneymaking payments processor. Fraudulent Wirecard would strike back against McCrum and his wife with smear campaigns, lawsuits and surveillance. German banks and regulators targeted him. But his efforts paid off. Read about his crazy, weird investigation.

5 most scandalous frauds of 2020

We were all glad to discard our 2020 calendars. Fraudsters took advantage of COVID-19 conditions, but not all of them needed an pandemic to pull off some big frauds. We've distilled a long list of cases to give you a few shockers.

Remote but engaged

How do fraud examiners conduct fraud examinations when they often can’t meet their team members and subjects in person? These experts — during pandemic constraints — discuss their biggest investigation hurdles, maintaining professional skepticism, best practices, eDiscovery challenges, chain of custody, interviewing constraints and more.

Six candidates selected for ACFE Board of Regents’ ballot

Six candidates have been selected to compete for two positions on the 2021-2022 Board of Regents. The board sets standards to promote professionalism and to ensure the reputation of the CFE credential.

Keeping tax-supported officials around the globe accountable

National agencies are adopting income-asset disclosure management systems to help ensure transparency and accountability among high-level political and governmental officials.

Navigating a misshapen world

Manhunters: How we took down Pablo Escobar

Keeping ships afloat: Maritime fraud affects us all