10 Things a Fraud Examiner Has Learned About QuickBooks®️

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10 Things a Fraud Examiner Has Learned About QuickBooks®️

Stephen Pedneault CFE, CPA/CFF of Forensic Accounting Services LLC said he has been using Quickbooks before it was even called Quickbooks (it used to be called Quicken for all you youngsters out there). While it is a handy, affordable tool for small business, nonprofits and churches, it is also vulnerable to manipulation. Here are Pedneault’s 10 lessons learned to help guide you through your next investigation involving Quickbooks.

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Your Responsibility to Uphold a High-Trust Society

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Your Responsibility to Uphold a High-Trust Society

At their core, a fraud examiner is responsible for determining what is true and what is not true. As many of you know, it sounds simple, but it is far from simple. Only minutes before Nicholas Thompson, editor in chief of WIRED Magazine, spoke, attendees heard the story of Daphne Caruana Galizia, an investigative journalist who was murdered for her relentless pursuit of the truth. As Daphne’s heartbreaking story illuminates, upholding the truth is often a hefty weight to bear. Throughout his presentation, Thompson touched on this question of truth several times, pointing out that as our lives become even further enmeshed with the internet, that question grows more salient by the day.

Here are the 11 biggest questions Thompson pondered (and encourages you to ponder) about fraud and the technological future.

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Matthew Caruana Galizia Says Guardian Award Will Help Continue and Protect His Mother's Legacy

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Matthew Caruana Galizia Says Guardian Award Will Help Continue and Protect His Mother's Legacy

“The Guardian Award recognizes my mother’s work, not just as a personal achievement, but as a legacy that belongs to all journalists, all people who fight fraud, to all people who protest corruption all over the world,” said Matthew Caruana Galizia during the Tuesday morning General Session. Matthew accepted the posthumous 2020 Guardian Award on behalf of his mother, journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was murdered in a car bombing in Malta in 2017. “My mother herself is now beyond all harm, but the Guardian Award honors her life’s work. In doing so, it helps to protect this legacy.”

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The Cyber Sickness No One Wants ... Ransomware

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The Cyber Sickness No One Wants ... Ransomware

Between 2009 and 2010, Iran’s nuclear program was the target of a devastating cyber attack. A virus took control of centrifuge controls in facilities across the country, causing thousands of machines to break. The hackers weren’t satisfied yet, though. To add insult to injury, they reportedly hijacked the facilities' workstations and used them to play AC/DC … loudly.

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Using Emojis and Geo-Location in Your Financial Investigations

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Using Emojis and Geo-Location in Your Financial Investigations

Think emojis are used only for personal text messages from Gen-Yers? Think again. According to Wale Ayantoye, emojis within payment apps could help you spot drug deals, gambling transactions, prostitution and fraudulent business trips.

Ayantoye is a Global Sanctions Consultant at Square Inc. and shared his experience of using data from emojis combined with geo-location to catch illegal activities by savvy fraudsters. “It’s more of a cat and mouse — we are thinking how are we going to catch up with them and they are thinking how are they going to evade our programs,” said Ayantoye. “For any compliance or fraud program, you need access to all of the information you can get.”

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Keynote Speakers Video: Whistleblowing Panel

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Keynote Speakers Video: Whistleblowing Panel

Rebecca Jarvis, host of "The Dropout" podcast and a chief correspondent for ABC News, led a panel on whistleblowing Monday at the 31st Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. She was joined by Stephen Kohn, Partner at Kohn, Kohn & Colapinto, LLP, Tom Mueller, New York Times best-selling author of "Crisis of Conscience," and Jane Norberg, Chief of the Office of the Whistleblower for the U.S. SEC.

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