A Rough Reality: Fraud Victims and the Road to Renewal

FROM THE ACFE GLOBAL FRAUD CONFERENCE

Courtney Babin
ACFE Communications Coordinator

Shock, anger, depression and bargaining are all victims' reactions to fraud. When someone falls victim to fraud, there are issues that hinder healing — lack of sleep, overworking to earn money back, compulsive behavior and avoiding emotions. “Much is made of the fraudster,” said Andy Wilson, CFE, CCEP, VP Fraud & Compliance, Sedgwick, Inc. “But [the victims] are the real faces of fraud.” In his session at last week's ACFE Global Fraud Conference, “Fraud Victims Speak Out,” Wilson hosted victims of fraud who spoke about their experiences and how they overcame them.

In 2003, Jay Myers, President of Interactive Solutions, Inc., read an article about fraud that stuck with him. At work the next day, he checked his payroll records and discovered a fraud that was being carried out by his director of finance. “I was raised with honesty, integrity and ethics,” said Myers. “When I discovered the theft, it went against how I was raised and I became enraged.” In 2013, Brett Ray, Chief Operating Officer at Integrity Furniture Group, was brought in to assist a small business who was in the midst of investigating an internal fraud scheme. “They were robbing Peter to pay Paul; it was phenomenal,” said Ray. “What started out as an inkling of liberty being taken snowballed into everything they [did] being a lie.”

Fraud victims often say that going through the experience is one of the worst things they have gone through. After losing trust in coworkers, dealing with an unethical culture and losing financial security, victims need to fight to sustain their innocence. Wilson provided 12 steps that victims can follow in order to regain their emotional footing. A few of these include:

• Do not allow yourself to be casually judged. Remember that frauds cost $3.7 trillion annually. Frauds are convincing, hidden and criminal. If you have been defrauded, no one is in a position to judge you.
• Do not live in the past. Learn from the past, but do not dwell on it. Move on with your life and move forward.
• Give yourself time to grieve. Your trust has been violated. When you are defrauded you lose more than your money. You lose your pride, self-confidence and self-esteem.

When it’s time to move on, “You realize that anger can’t be a great strategy,” said Myers. You have had your trust violated, and it’s hard to deal with that. You must have the determination to do the right thing and hold the fraudster accountable in order to prevent fraud from happening in the future to someone else. “One day,” says Wilson, “you will wake up and you will say, ‘let’s move forward.’”

Find more coverage from last week's event on FraudConferenceNews.com.

Behind the Costumes: Fraud Takes a Human Toll

GUEST BLOGGER

Bruce Dorris, J.D., CFE, CPA
ACFE Program Director

As we celebrate Halloween going into All Saints Day, I can’t help but think of some of the evil people I have prosecuted during my public career -- and I dealt with some rogues during those 13 years I was a prosecutor. I put all sorts of criminals in jail during that time, violent and non-violent alike, some defendants worse than others. But regardless of the type of crime, they all had one thing in common –victims.

I have tremendous sympathy with the victims of crimes, both financial and non-financial. In fact, there are several families with whom I still remain in contact. I’ve visited victims in courtrooms, in hospitals and in their homes. They are generally mad, sad or both. But like All Saints Day is a day of recognition for people who gave themselves for others, there is at least a glimmer of hope for many victims knowing that someone cares about their losses and fights for them and with them to obtain justice. Knowing that a fraud examiner took the time to hear their case, or walk them through the process, means so much to a financial crime victim. Knowing that they have a voice through you, the CFE, assures them that they will be heard and not forgotten.

As we prepare for International Fraud Awareness Week next week and the important resources it highlights, I urge you to remember the impact the fraudster has on the person he or she is trying to fleece – the victim. Though we have many tools available as fraud examiners to prevent and detect fraud, there is still a human side that is not so easily “fixed.” From the loss of a family’s savings to the loss of a job due to company financial mismanagement, fraud takes a human toll. We should be proud to be a part of a profession that is dedicated to preventing these crimes and helping people who are victimized by them.