When You Hear Hoofbeats, It May Be a Zebra

Overview

Young doctors sometimes arrive at an exotic medical diagnosis (You've got Kuru!), when a more common place explanation is likely (You've got a cold). These diagnoses are known as Zebras and doctors are taught, "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras". Sometimes, the patient really has a rare disease and suffers from misdiagnosis and subsequent improper treatment. Similarly, managers, auditors, and investigators often see indicators of fraud, but dismiss them because they've been taught or assume based upon experience that it is just a mistake that looks like fraud. This session uses case studies to explore some of the more common symptoms of fraud that are often misdiagnosed.

Prerequisites

None

Objectives

• Learn the relationship between the three elements of fraud and how fraudsters think
• Understand how internal controls prevent fraud
• Learn the red flags to look for to identify fraud

Highlights

• Internal Controls
• Fraud Prevention
• Fraud Investigation