If you’ve ever handed over the financial keys of your business and thought, “I hope they’re doing the right thing,” you’re not alone. Most owners want to trust their CFO or top finance person. And honestly, trust is healthy… until it turns into blind trust. That’s exactly how companies end up on the wrong side … Read more
Every year businesses gear up for the holiday rush. More sales. More transactions. More moving parts. And unfortunately, more opportunities for fraudsters to slip through the cracks. Card networks are sounding the alarm on a fresh batch of schemes hitting retailers during the busiest shopping season of the year. If you run a business, this … Read more
Every year, right when the cranberry sauce hits the table, something else quietly spikes inside a lot of businesses: overtime. Some of it is completely legitimate. Holiday rush. Staff taking vacation. Year-end work piling up. All normal. But hiding inside that pile of perfectly reasonable extra hours?A few creative entries that deserve a closer look. … Read more
Every fraud case has a villain. Sometimes they’re outside the building. But the cases that drain businesses the fastest usually come from someone already inside the walls. Someone trusted. Someone who knows exactly where your blind spots are. That’s what makes the Qualcomm case so fascinating. A high-ranking executive quietly built a side company, hid … Read more
When you invest in another company, you’re handing over control: so you must know who’s steering the ship The headline out of Dallas recently reads like something straight out of a financial crime thriller: Brad Heppner, founder of Beneficient Group, was arrested for allegedly looting more than $150 million from a firm he controlled through … Read more
Let’s get straight to it: yes, check washing is very real. It isn’t some rare scam that happens to someone else. It’s happening now, and if your law‐firm bookkeeping and forensic accounting operation isn’t set up to guard against it, you’re risking more than money—you’re risking your client’s trust. What is check washing? In simple … Read more
🕵️ Phantom Payments: The Fraud You Don’t See Coming Every detective knows the toughest cases aren’t the ones that leave a trail. They’re the ones that look legitimate until the money’s gone. That’s exactly how phantom payment fraud works. It happens when scammers create the illusion of a payment by showing pending deposits, fake confirmations, … Read more
🕵️♀️ The Case of the Disappearing Dollars: Why Every Business Needs to Go on Fraud Patrol Something suspicious is happening in the business world…and it’s not just in Iowa.According to a recent KCRG report, companies across the state are losing more money to fraud than ever before.The culprits? Evolving scams, slicker technology, and a false … Read more
🕵️♀️ Deepfake Deception: What Every Business Needs to Know Imagine this scenario:It’s late on a Thursday. The CFO of a midsize law firm receives a FaceTime call from someone who looks and sounds just like their managing partner. The partner’s voice is firm and urgent: “We’ve got to close this deal tonight. Wire the funds … Read more
🔍 The Payroll Switcheroo: A Case of the Fake “Brandy Derrick” Every good detective knows that the best scams don’t look like scams at all.One afternoon, my office got caught in the middle of a classic con that could have fooled anyone. The Case File It started with a simple email. My employee opened a … Read more
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