Gender Considerations in Investigative Interviews

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Gender Considerations in Investigative Interviews

Bright and early on International Women’s Day, the first session of the 2023 ACFE Women’s Summit kicked off with a conversation on gender considerations in investigative interviews. A panel of four professional fraud fighters discussed their experiences as women in the anti-fraud field and shared knowledge of how to combat biases based on gender and perception therein.

As they began, you got the impression that they could talk at length on this subject, the nuances and variations within, and their experiences as women in the anti-fraud profession.

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Tom Hardin: Confessions of an Insider Trader

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Tom Hardin: Confessions of an Insider Trader

When then-financial analyst Tom Hardin left his Manhattan apartment building one summer’s morning in July 2008, he knew the game was up.

“I stepped onto the sidewalk and this guy behind me says, ‘Are you Thomas Cody Hardin?’ Anytime someone calls you by your full name, you are probably in trouble,” he laughs. “I knew I was trouble as a child when my mother did it.”

The voice came from one of two FBI agents who quickly informed him that they knew that he had made four trades on the stock market using insider information.

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"Thanks for the Nightmares!" A Deep Dive into Technology Crime

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"Thanks for the Nightmares!" A Deep Dive into Technology Crime

In a session that had many virtual attendees joking about having nightmares tonight, going completely off the grid and hiding under blankets, Walt Manning, CEO of Techno-Crime Institute, told a story about darknet, cryptocurrency, encrypted messaging apps, burner phones, ransomware and more at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

In his session, "You're in Charge: Are You Ready for a Techno-Crime Challenge," Manning discussed the above and offered this piece of advice: "This is not the fraud of the future - this is the fraud of right now. And if you're not prepared, you need to be prepared because it's already happening."

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Reevaluating the PEACE Interview Method in a Remote World

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Reevaluating the PEACE Interview Method in a Remote World

Many of you have probably heard of the PEACE framework for investigative interviewing. Since the changes brought on by the pandemic have taken effect, some pros and cons have emerged with this method of interviewing. Bruce Pitt-Payne, a long-time investigator with Royal Canadian Mounted Police, broke it all down at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference, in his virtual session “The Pros and Cons of Conducting Virtual Investigative Interviews.”

Before he got started, and many times during his presentation, Pitt-Payne wanted to clarify that when he uses the word “cons,” it’s not always in a negative connotation. When he uses the word, he says we should think of “considerations,” or just reevaluating how we did things before and looking at things in a different way.

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Things Have Really Changed...Including Surveillance Investigations

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Things Have Really Changed...Including Surveillance Investigations

There was a little bit of humor to start Keith Elliott’s session, “Investigations and Surveillance in Today’s Landscape,” at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference. It was Elliott’s segway into how things have changed so much since the start of the pandemic, including surveillance in investigations.

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You Can’t Make a Smoothie Using Only Bananas: A Conversation about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

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You Can’t Make a Smoothie Using Only Bananas: A Conversation about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

To be different in a homogenous environment can require wearing an “invisible jacket” – heavy, clunky and uncomfortable. You hide your true self in order to fit in, you code-switch to be accepted and not experience bias, and you return home at the end of the day exhausted from faking it to make it. This requirement is changing, as it should! But the change is a journey, and it takes all of us taking it one step forward at a time. Implementing DEI initiatives in the workplace helps increase creativity, attract talent and help with the bottom line by ensuring that everyone – everyone – feels safe, supported and like they belong. The ultimate goal of inclusion is allowing us to remove that invisible jacket and be seen for everything we are.

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The Unholy Prospect of Occupational Fraud in Churches, Nonprofits and Other Community Organizations

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The Unholy Prospect of Occupational Fraud in Churches, Nonprofits and Other Community Organizations

Anyone and any organization can become a victim of fraud, and, unfortunately, occupational fraud can hit nonprofits and other community organizations that may be near and dear to our hearts. According to Rollie Dimos, CFE, CIA, Internal Audit Director of the General Counsel of the Assemblies, fraud at these organizations is so common because there aren’t many prevention controls in place. He outlined the threat of fraud and what can be done to stop it in his session “Increasing Integrity by Reducing Fraud at Nonprofits and Community Organizations” at the 33rd Annual ACFE Global Fraud Conference.

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