Investigation

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.

Taking down a crooked film producer

Fraud Magazine recently spoke with three veteran CFEs about how they break open and dissect investment scams and claw back stolen capital. Though these practitioners weren’t involved in this ongoing Hollywood case, they’ve reviewed the public records. And they’re deeply experienced in the case’s functional components: financial investigation, digital forensics, and asset tracing and recovery. As these experts reveal, their tools and techniques also are potent weapons against other kinds of schemes.

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.

Best defense is a good offense

Use the new Anti-Fraud Playbook, produced by the ACFE and Grant Thornton, to operationalize leading guidance from the ACFE/COSO Fraud Risk Management Guide to help your organization move from theory to practice.

Predication or not?

CFEs discuss how they know when they should devote resources to launch fraud examinations or at least preliminary investigations.

Dusting your data for fraud's fingerprints: Six number patterns that fraudsters use

Fraudsters tend to steal in similar ways. Here are six number patterns you can search for and possibly find hidden fraud. Learn from the acclaimed authority on Benford’s Law on how numbers can become your best friends.

Doctoring the books

These case studies will help inoculate medical practices against fraud through sound ACFE principles — from financial oversight to segregation of duties.

DOJ asks, ‘Can you show your compliance and anti-fraud program actually works?’

Peña and Murphy challenge us to rise up in our battles

As I listened to the stories of former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents, Javier Peña and Steve Murphy — the inspirations behind the Netflix series “Narcos” — I sensed their passion for catching Pablo Escobar and other drug traffickers. Despite enduring constant danger and peril, they seized the mission to disrupt the narcotics trade in Colombia.

Murder, money laundering and the demise of Pablo Escobar

Retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents Steve Murphy and Javier Peña — the inspirations behind the hit show “Narcos” on Netflix — tell the tale of their time in Colombia, investigating and capturing notorious narcoterrorist and Colombian drug lord, Pablo Escobar. Not everything you see on TV is true, but their story comes pretty close.

Supply-chain fraud is alive and escalating

The last time you probably thought about supply chains was during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis when the toilet-paper shelves were empty. But that TP had to wend its way through a complex journey from pulp mills to your home that involved many parties and chains of events. Disrupt just one step — say because of pandemic fears or fraud — and the chain breaks. Here’s how to help prevent supply chains from fraudulent acts and mitigate them when they do break.