Every year, thousands of seniors are financially exploited by family members, caregivers and others. But you can help put a stop to elder fraud. Pay attention if a senior seems afraid of his or her guardian or if a caregiver prevents a charge from speaking for him- or herself. And be suspicious if the elder
Fraud Archives - Page 7 of 9 - Crawford Ellenbogen
Nov 7, 2019
Oct 22, 2019
Wielding Benford’s Law to find fraud
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
Benford’s Law is a long-standing statistical precept that remains as relevant in fighting fraud as ever. The premise is that, in sets of random data, multidigit numbers beginning with 1, 2 or 3 are more likely to occur than those starting with 4 through 9. But crooks don’t necessarily know this. When manipulating financial data,
Oct 8, 2019
Typosquatters profit from common user errors
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
The Web has opened plenty of new avenues for criminal behavior. For example, you may have heard of cybersquatting. Someone registers a site’s domain name that includes a trademark and then tries to profit by selling that name to the trademark owner. But are you familiar with typosquatting? You should be — because these schemes
Oct 1, 2019
Getting the goods on hidden assets
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
An acrimonious divorce, ownership dispute or occupational theft incident could all lead an individual or business to wrongfully hide items of value. In such cases, fraud experts use a variety of tools to uncover the assets, starting with net worth analysis. This looks at changes in a person’s worth, reconciling those changes with income and
Sep 18, 2019
Protect your nonprofit from occupational fraud threats
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud, Non-Profit
- 0 Comments
Many not-for-profits increase their occupational theft risk by devoting too little of their budget to internal controls, placing excessive trust in staffers and volunteers and failing to punish fraud perpetrators appropriately. Board members who lack the financial knowledge to spot irregularities are another risk. Because your organization likely can’t afford any fraud losses, you need
Sep 11, 2019
The connection between fraud and geometry
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
Fraud experts have long suggested that the presence of three conditions (pressure, rationalization and opportunity) greatly increases the likelihood that an employee will commit fraud. This is known as the “fraud triangle.” Over the years, the original triangle framework has been expanded to add capability (generally fraud-prone personality characteristics) to define a “fraud diamond.” Other
Sep 4, 2019
To be effective, you can’t fight fraud passively
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, active detection methods (such as surprise audits or data monitoring) are far more effective than passive methods (such as confessions or notification by police). To reduce the duration of any fraud scheme and lower overall financial losses, companies should use such active detection methods as IT controls,
Aug 28, 2019
Pump-and-dump schemes: Don’t believe the hype
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
Although “pump-and-dump” fraud perpetrators mostly target inexperienced investors, anyone can fall for this scheme. Typically, a scammer buys shares in a relatively illiquid stock, then hypes it with false or misleading claims to potential investors (usually via phone or email). This drives up the price. When the stock hits a certain level, the fraudster sells,
Aug 21, 2019
When the early bird commits the fraud, you need to catch it
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
Improper revenue recognition has long accounted for a substantial portion of financial statement fraud. By recording revenue early, a dishonest business seller or an employee under pressure to meet financial benchmarks can significantly distort profits. Fortunately, such manipulation leaves traces for fraud experts to find. Probably the most obvious marker is when a company records
Aug 13, 2019
Why your phone may be a fraud risk
- By Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
As more people use mobile phones, more fraud perpetrators target these devices. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, between 2017 and 2018 the number of fraudulent mobile-phone accounts opened grew by 78%. Schemes in which thieves open a phone account in your name and use it to access your bank account, sign up for