So what exactly is a “Forensic CPA”??? And what does a forensic CPA do? Well I get asked that question quite a bit and I always try to provide relatable examples to help explain my line of work. In a nutshell, I do fraud investigations and help businesses both detect and prevent fraud. So what does THAT mean? It sounds kinda sleuthy and cloak and dagger and well, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. There’s usually never a dull moment in my line of work and I love what I do. And every now and again, it feels like I’m living in a “Catch Me If You Can” movie world that’s full of twists, turns, and surprises.
What I work with essentially involves understanding bad (and sometimes not so bad) people doing things they probably shouldn’t be doing and further delving into both the mind and the mechanics of how fraud occurs. I have all sorts of tools at my disposal to help me with this, but at the end of the day, I have to have a mindset capable of understanding why a person would commit fraud, how he/she is able to do it, and both why and how current businesses could allow this to occur.
In my blog, every quarter I will provide various examples of different frauds that I have come across; some cases are simple and not so serious and others a bit more sophisticated in nature. I will attempt to describe how and why they occur, not to promote or encourage people to try these schemes but more as an educational process to help people and businesses protect themselves from these vulnerabilities. Because the first step in helping prevent fraud loss is truly to understand the nature of how it can occur in the first place.
Remember kids, don’t try this at home!