In recent years conflict of interest reporting has become a major topic of discussion during audits, but why? First a conflict of interest can be identified as this: “Any public officer or employee of a public agency who has, or whose relative has, a substantial interest in any contract, sale, purchase or service to such …
Perhaps one of the most crucial controls an entity can have is the segregation of duties. Basically, this requires multiple people within a process to complete an objective so that no one is in charge of the process from start to finish. As you begin to think of the different processes within your entity and …
I recently came across an article about a small town in Virginia, who allegedly had $21 million missing all due to the top tier of the County Government individuals. Front Royal, Virginia is in Warren County and had big plans for the growth of buildings, jobs, and other developments within the town. These big new plans …
Many of you are aware of the famous ransomware cyberattack on the City of Atlanta that occurred over a year ago, but you may not understand how it worked out. SamSam is a specific type of ransomware that is known for gaining entry by scanning the network for passwords or other entry data used by …
You hear accountants/auditors talk about segregation of duties but do owners, Board Members and Council Members understand what it means? Surely, these individuals understand leaving such a vital part of the operations to a single person would be disastrous to the organization whereas working as a team toward a common goal produces success. The financial …
Recently the Federal Trade Commission put out an alert on phone spear phishing and caller ID spoofing scams that are on the rise among consumers and companies. I imagine you experience the same relentless calls from phone numbers you don’t recognize as I do every day on my personal devices. Usually I just ignore and …
By now you are probably familiar with Rita Crundwell, the City Comptroller who embezzled more than $53 million over a 20-year period. If not, click here. That story seems to still get a lot of attention as it is shocking how she was able to get away with so much for so long; however, there …
Netflix recently released a documentary called “All the Queen’s Horses.” It details the story of Rita Crundwell, the perpetrator of the largest case of municipal fraud in American history. As the City Comptroller and Treasurer for Dixon, Illinois, Rita Crundwell embezzled more than $53 million of public funds over a 20-year period. The stolen funds …
You may believe that phishing emails are a thing of the past and that no one falls for them. However, emails remain the number one way for scammers to infect your computer with viruses or ransomware and they have been getting more complex with their schemes. Spear phishing Typically, phishing emails can be easily identified …
Risk management and internal control are vital to a business’s financial health, but can often be put to the wayside amongst required day-to-day work. However, the benefits of taking the time to prioritize risk management can far outweigh the time put in up front. With the wide range of uncertainties faced by organizations, risk management …