Post-Game Wrap-Up from the ACFE’s Global Fraud Conference

My last two days at the conference were jam packed with learning and forging new relationships. I even attended a Baltimore Orioles game. The Orioles were playing the Philadelphia Phillies and my seat was in the upper deck, but well worth the $10. When I arrived at the game, I hoped to watch the home team win—nothing more, nothing less. I never thought for a second that I would be part of the historic, record-breaking night at Oriole Park at Camden Yard. 

The first pitch was thrown out at 7:05 p.m. on a hot and humid evening. The Orioles were quick to get three outs in the first inning, and the Orioles’ first batter, Manny Machado, hit a home run to lead off the bottom of the first inning, which contributed to the six runs they scored in the inning. The second inning was much of the same with the Phillies staying scoreless and the Orioles racking up three more home runs. 

With the score 9-0, this was turning into an interesting game for the home team fans, at least. We fans began asking, “What is the record for most home runs hit by a team in a game?” The answer is ten, by Toronto against Baltimore back in 1987. It would be pretty cool, we thought, if they could break a record that was set against them almost 30 years ago. In the end, the Orioles finished the game with eight homers which wasn’t enough to beat the 1987 record. However, they did beat their previous franchise record of seven and were just two short of the Major League Baseball record. So, all in all, it was a pretty exciting game if you’re a Baltimore Orioles fan. 

Back to the conference, there were 13 educational tracks with over 80 sessions. For the sessions I attended, all the presenters were well-prepared and had a great passion for their topics. Included below are some take-aways from my last two days of the conference: 

1. It is important to capture and maintain big data to perform data analytics. As an example, banks should be capturing and analyzing IP addresses for their electronic banking customers.
2. Ironically, covering your tracks on the internet is easy (for example, you can manipulate your IP address every time you engage in an internet transaction), and there are plenty of tools (most are free) out there to help.
3. Documenting procedures and capturing evidence is an important part of any fraud investigation, and the fraud examiners must have a long-term focus. It is a marathon, not a sprint.
4. The conference’s last presenter, a convicted fraudster, reminded us that fraudsters can rationalize almost anything. He embezzled over $8 million to pay for personal debt and to support his gambling habit. (More on him in a future post.) 

In a nutshell, the ACFE’s 26^th Global Fraud Conference was amazing. Not only did I build relationships with other fraud examiners, learn about new fraud schemes and new prevention measures, and enhance my investigative skills, but also I cheered on the record-breaking Orioles.