Criminals Use Cryptocurrencies to Launder, Extort and Steal Money

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Criminals Use Cryptocurrencies to Launder, Extort and Steal Money

Cryptocurrencies are no longer new nor nascent, but they are still a popular vehicle by which criminals use to extort, launder and steal money. “I remember when ransomware started, they [criminals] used PayPal,” said Costel Ion, CFE, director - principal investigator at Deutsche Bank in his virtual session at the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Europe. “Now ransomware criminals are using many forms of cryptocurrencies.”

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Using Open Sources for Financial Crime Intelligence

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Using Open Sources for Financial Crime Intelligence

The world wide web is a constantly fluctuating ocean of information. Investigators often have to navigate through massive currents of data to find a few pertinent threads. A technique or tool that you use today may not be the same or even available tomorrow. But as Stephen Hill, Ph.D, MLPI, CIIP, managing director at Hill Bingham Ltd, said in his virtual session at the 2020 Fraud Conference Europe, “At the end of the day, a search engine is a database, and you’re running a query against that database.”

The goal for open source intelligence gathering is to take something broad and find the query that will narrow it down to the specific information you need. The key to doing this is your creativity. Although the tools and techniques might evolve as time passes, here are three important building blocks you need when using open sources for gathering financial crime intelligence.

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Making Compliance Cool

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Making Compliance Cool

“Before you get to what you’re going to teach people, you’ve got to get their attention.” Vince Walden said, quoting Rashelle Tanner, the director of the Compliance Learning Program at Microsoft, to illustrate what he wanted to convey about compliance to virtual attendees of the ACFE Fraud Conference Europe on Monday. He added, “You have got to make compliance more engaging and figure out how to make training stick.”

Walden, the managing director of Forensic Technology Services at Alvarez & Marsal Disputes and Investigations LLC, encouraged listeners to use different techniques to make compliance training and adhering to best practices fun, engaging and even a little surprising.

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Are Rewards Necessary for Whistleblowers in Europe?

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Are Rewards Necessary for Whistleblowers in Europe?

With each new edition, the ACFE’s Report to the Nations shows the importance of tips in detecting fraud. In the upcoming 2020 edition of the report, 43% of the fraud cases were discovered through tips, and in organizations with fraud awareness training and formal reporting mechanisms, the number rose to 56%. Establishing a hotline, anonymous web form, email address or other tip reporting mechanism is often an inexpensive, and highly effective, way to detect fraud in organizations of all sizes and industries. But what use is a tip reporting tool if no one uses it?

Stephen Kohn spends a lot of his time pondering this question. Kohn is widely recognized as one of the U.S.’s leading whistleblower and qui tam attorneys, and currently represents Danske Bank whistleblower Howard Wilkinson. In his keynote address at the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Europe, presented virtually, he asked attendees, “How do you create a whistleblower program where most employees will report?”

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Do You Know Where Your Corporate Ethics Come From?

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Do You Know Where Your Corporate Ethics Come From?

Most fraud examiners understand that setting an ethical tone at the top is a vital part of an anti-fraud strategy. According to the 2018 Report to the Nations, having an established code of conduct reduced the amount lost per fraud instance by as much as 56%. However, it’s one thing to understand how important tone at the top is and an entirely different thing for organizations to actually establish and stick with an ethical framework and attitude that carries through all their business decisions.

Waheed Alkahtani, CFE, the executive director of the Saudi Anti-Fraud Association, discussed the importance of ethical decision-making during his session, “What is the Value of Corporate Ethics?” at the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East in Dubai this February. “We have to sell the concept of conducting business with the highest ethical standards,” Alkahtani said. “With companies, countries and individuals, once they decide to be ethical and have principles, things will change.”

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GDRFA - Dubai and ACFE to Host 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East on 23 February

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GDRFA - Dubai and ACFE to Host 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East on 23 February

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA-Dubai) along with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) will host the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East in Dubai 23-25 February.

This conference will bring together more than 350 professionals from public and private sectors, and will provide a platform to exchange ideas, expertise and discuss the latest trends and tools in fraud detection, response and prevention. Attendees will hear from expert speakers about important cases and trends that have emerged in the technology development and financial sectors.

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Spotlight on Sessions at the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East

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Spotlight on Sessions at the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East

Attendees at the 2020 ACFE Fraud Conference Middle East will have the opportunity to hear from subject matter experts on current fraud issues, case studies, practical solutions and more this February. The conference, which takes place February 23-25 in Dubai, has four tracks of educational sessions to choose from, along with two keynote speakers during general sessions.

One can’t-miss session is “What Is the Value of Corporate Ethics?” Taught by the executive director of the Saudi Anti-Fraud Association, Waheed Alkahtani, CFE, attendees will raise their understanding about the importance of the ethical decision-making and codes of conduct for individuals and organizations. They will learn how to recognize conflicts of interest, how people reach ethical decisions and the value of maintaining ethical business practices.

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