Fraud Auditing, Detection, and Prevention Blog

In this blog, we're looking at how to write a fraud action statement using the payroll function as a way to understand the starting process for a fraud audit.

But first, here are the answers for the trivia from the last blog:

1. What was the biggest corporate lawsuit settlement? $206 billion, paid by the nation’s four largest tobacco companies.

 2. Excluding the tobacco lawsuit, what is the aggregate dollar value of the next 10 large corporate settlements? $88 billion dollars.

Last month’s trivia questions and answers

Besides the fraud triangle, what other shapes are used to describe the theory of why people commit fraud.

 The fraud diamond and the fraud pentagon.

 In what year did Dr. Cressy publish the fraud triangle?

This is an interesting question because there seem to be conflicting thoughts on this subject. With that said, I will say the study was never published by Dr. Cressey, based on what I believe is a reliable source. This does not diminish the importance of the fraud triangle, it is just interesting trivia.

Since I started my career in the professional practice of audit, there has been a debate about the auditor’s responsibility for detecting fraud. For some reason, the audit profession has shied away from this responsibility. And yet, whenever an incident of fraud is detected, everyone says “where were the auditors?” Henceforth the fraud detection dilemma, auditor’s responsibility, and public expectation.

Fraud Data Analytics: Selecting the Strategy

In our first blog in a series on fraud data analytics, we identified a ten-step methodology for conducting a fraud data analytics project. In this blog, we will discuss step three:

In our first blog in a series on fraud data analytics, we identified a ten-step methodology for conducting a fraud data analytics project. In this blog, we will discuss steps one and two.        

It is often the case that fraud scenarios are not as simple as meets the eye. Most financial executives are aware of the importance of having internal controls in fraud prevention and detection, yet few realize the potential fraud-based approaches have in finding complex fraud that is often overlooked by basic evidence of control measures. 

While no fraud methodology is entirely foolproof, taking a systematic and methodical approach to data by finding hidden patterns is a proven and robust approach to detection. This is something we’ve been specializing in for over 30 years at Fraud Auditing Inc., and so we have a wealth of experience in the area.

 Here’s a look at how you can implement a fraud-based approach in your organization and its advantages.