Investigation

Invaluable lessons from fraud fighters across the globe

ACFE President John D. Gill, J.D., CFE shares lessons learned from ACFE fraud fighters across the globe.

Lourdes C. Miranda, CFE

Throughout her career investigating financial crimes — first in the CIA and FBI and now in the private sector — Lourdes Miranda found that understanding human behavior is instrumental to cracking cases. She now urges fellow CFEs to balance technology with human intelligence in their investigations and learn everything they can about cryptocurrency and blockchain.

Measure and monitor your fraud risk management program success

‘Tis the season to set company goals. As we wrap up 2023 and look to the new year, ponder this: What are some of the key performance indicators (KPIs) companies use to measure the effectiveness of their fraud risk management program? Here, we explore some leading examples of anti-fraud KPIs that drive business value.

The many facets of empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand other people’s emotions, values and behaviors. It was once believed to be too “wishy-washy” or submissive to be taken seriously as a valid approach for investigations or negotiations. But empathy is actually a highly valued dimension of interpersonal, communication and strategic competence that can help fraud examiners more easily obtain an admission of guilt from fraudsters and gain insight into their “why.”

Phishers use AI to bypass email security, fake life insurance policy scams and more

Phishing scams never disappeared; they’re just more sophisticated. Also reject letters promising millions from insurance policies. And beware of invoices for COVID-19 tests you never ordered.

That’s not my signature — or is it?

Sometimes a fraudster signs their name, but with a different flourish, to deny later that they ever signed a document at all. The technique is called autoforgery. Here we examine why criminals might use this rare type of fraud and how to prove it in court.

Ford on fraud

Joseph L. Ford, CFE, has spent a lifetime fighting fraud, working his way up from file clerk at the FBI to holding the bureau’s No. 3 spot. After leaving the FBI, he served as Bank of the West’s chief security officer and eventually founded his own consulting firm. Here Ford speaks of his experiences investigating both large and small frauds and what we can learn from them.

Evading suspicion through political networking

Sam Bankman-Fried, Elizabeth Holmes and Bernard Madoff. What do they have in common? They apparently used their outsized social influence in their professional networks to illegally expand their bank accounts and prolong their crimes. Fraud fighters can’t also be duped by their wily ways.

A bad return on your money

Investors have been losing their money to scammers since ancient times, but the scale and the cost of investment fraud has only grown in a digital age that has made it easier for fraudsters to steal hard-earned savings. Here we look at some of the different types of investment fraud and the red flags to watch out for.

All hoax and no cattle

Cody Easterday was a Washington state rancher and farmer with a sterling reputation. Then Tyson Foods discovered that for at least four years he sent fake invoices to that company, and another, for $244 million for the care and feeding of 265,000 head of cattle that didn’t exist. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and is serving an 11-year sentence in federal prison. Here’s an analysis of the fraud from a prosecutor, investigators and fraud examiners.

Crushing fraud in the U.K.

Fraud now accounts for more than 40% of all crime in the United Kingdom. Here we explore what’s behind this proliferation of fraud in England and Wales and what anti-fraud experts say the government must do to crush it.

Joseph R. Dervaes teaches fraud lessons and awards first scholarship named in his honor at PNW Chapter Annual Conference

ACFE Regent Emeritus Joseph R. Dervaes, CFE, gave his final presentation and awarded the Pacific Northwest Chapter’s scholarship, renamed in his honor, at the chapter’s first hybrid annual fraud conference and the latest edition of the Fraud Risk Management Guide helps fraud examiners keep apprised of the latest threats and the multiple ways they can tackle them.