Fraud Week 2015

International Fraud Awareness Week 2015 last November was another great opportunity for fraud fighters around the world to educate the public about preventing and deterring fraud.

State governments showed strong support. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas, Governor Pete Ricketts of Nebraska and Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota all issued official proclamations in support of the week.

Colleges got creative. The University of Central Florida hosted a screening of "Catch Me If You Can" about conman Frank Abagnale and the ACFE Purdue University Chapter held an anti-fraud seminar. Utica College waived application fees for their online fraud and financial crime degree programs, and held a complimentary webinar centered on ID theft and money laundering.

Groups worked to fight elderly fraud. Legacy Caring launched an anti-fraud video and Detective Rick Belik, CFE, of the Omaha Police Department gave two senior fraud talks educating seniors about common scams and how to avoid them.

Companies stepped up. Clorox offered its employees specific fraud-prevention training and Experian hosted a roundtable event to educate clients on fraud preventive measures for businesses. Wessel & Company ran an article in the local newspaper and trained staff on fraud detection techniques.

SAS posted educational materials on social media each week while PriceWaterhouseCoopers India set up kiosks at various regional offices, at which employees distributed marketing collaterals and hosted Q&A sessions.

The executives and management at Hollard Group engaged in communications and events to set the "tone from the top" with the staff, and Whistleblower Security Inc. wrote blog posts and distributed newsletters to educate the public about fraud prevention and detection.

The ACFE would like to thank everyone involved in such a successful week and give special recognition to our Featured Supporters: CRI Group, FGB, Mashreq, BNP Paribas, ADCB and USAA for their involvement.

It might be wishful thinking that with this much involvement, fraud will become be a thing of the past, but we know that fraudsters continue to evolve with each new technology. Fraud Week is a great time to examine these risks, but fraud awareness is a year-round effort. We look forward to a host of new wonderful ideas to raise fraud awareness for International Fraud Awareness Week 2016.