The Fraud Examiner

Unique Online Marketplace Presents Uncommon Challenges for CFE

September 2017

ACFE Member Profile
Richard Barbieri, CFE
Senior Manager of Risk Operations
Etsy 

Although he began his career in law, Richard Barbieri, CFE, found himself drawn to fraud cases. Now the senior manager of risk operations at Etsy, he deals less with money laundering cases and more with customer and merchant verification. When he isn’t overseeing his team of 20 at work, Barbieri enjoys running and cheering on his favorite baseball team.

How did you become passionate about fighting fraud?

Prior to my time at Etsy, I worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s (DA) office. I started as a typical paralegal working on all kinds of cases. Fraud cases often stuck with me because as much as people — particularly the perpetrators — regard them as “victimless crimes,” when you actually interact with the people who are the targets of these crimes, you see just how incredibly wrong that phrase is.

What is one of the biggest lessons you have learned since becoming a CFE?

As silly as this sounds, the biggest lesson I learned since becoming a CFE, and continue to learn all the time, is the extent to which fraudsters will go to steal — even relatively small amounts. While it is not something I deal with directly in my current role, seeing presentations, like the one at the most recent ACFE Global Fraud Conference, about otherwise high-performing employees committing expense report theft never fails to amaze me.