Data exists in many forms and in many locations.
Obviously, as we mentioned, the fraud examiner will want to work with the IT department to
review the accounting and enterprise information systems data collected by the organization.
But there are other sources as well. Public records can be a great source of information
about individuals and businesses. For example, a criminal conviction search can identify
previous instances of misconduct or financial misdeeds by people or companies.
Social media and the web can lead to valuable information about individuals or businesses
who may be subjects of your investigation. People will often post things to social media
sites that may be of interest to a fraud examiner. For instance, let’s say you suspect a particular
employee of engaging in a kickback scheme. Recent posts by that employee showing expensive
purchases or vacations might be evidence of unexplained wealth.
Also be aware that company policies often allow for search of personal electronic devices
such as smart phones and tablets. Such searches should only be conducted when necessary, and
of course, counsel should be consulted beforehand, but they can provide valuable information
in some circumstances such as a data security breach.
Digital data has a greater life cycle than most people realize. Just because a subject
deletes data from a hard drive, mobile device, or peripheral device such as a USB drive,
that does not mean that it is unrecoverable. With the right software tools, digital forensic
experts can often recover data even if the user attempted to delete it.
It is important to remember not to destroy or change data inadvertently, however. For
example, if a device is off, you should never turn it on. Doing so changes important time
and date information on the system. Likewise, shutting a system down using normal procedures
will also change important information. The best practice is to leave everything as
is and ask a digital forensic professional to assist you. He or she will use approved
hardware and software systems to make an image of the hard drive. This can be done without
harming or altering the original drive. That way any evidence found on the drive will be
preserved for use in judicial proceedings. This week covered a variety of topics, mostly
in the digital space, including big data and technology-based tools and techniques.
We started with a need to identify the correct type and amount of data. From a practical
perspective, no case is investigated with an “open checkbook.” The fraud examiner
and forensic accountant needs to develop evidence to support their opinions and ensure that
no disconfirming evidence exists. Our next topic looked at the some of the tools
and techniques used to analyze data and showed how some of the tools and techniques were
used to perpetrate and conceal the WorldCom fraud as well as those used to detect it.
We wrapped with a discussion of data mining including the electronic evaluation of text
evidence. As with all of our material, you can learn
more by visiting the West Virginia University and Association of Certified Fraud Examiner websites.
Thank you for your participation. We look
forward to working with you in the next section.
Dr. Richard Riley, Ph.DLouis F. Tanner Distinguished Professor of Public Accounting
Dr. Richard Dull, Ph.DGoMart Professor in Accounting Information Systems
John Gill, J.D., CFEVice President - Education
