The Fraud Triangle: Businesses get Burned by the Man-in-the-Middle By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE The fraud triangle involves three major components; pressure, opportunity and rationalization. Mixed together, these ingredients explode causing significant losses for businesses of all classifications. Recent reports indicate that a typical organization loses 5% of annual revenues to fraud.   The Incendiary Mix of Fraud Triangle Ingredients Pressure is felt by potential fraudsters.  It may stem from financial, health, blackmail, psychological, lifestyle dependency or other issues that are of monumental importance to the affected individual.  He or she looks for some way to relieve the pressure by eliminating the immediate issue, if only temporarily, until they can find a more permanent fix. Opportunity is present when the fraudster identifies and takes advantage of circumstances in order to illegally and deceitfully obta...

Don’t Get Hooked By a Crook By: Dorothy Riggs, CFE Email Hacks Criminals are savvier than ever.  Using unauthorized access to an acquaintance’s email account, they bait their crooked hooks with phony email in hopes of deceiving you into sending money to their accounts. Email Spoofing Another method fraudsters use to lure you into the murky waters of fraud is email spoofing, which is basically forging the sender’s email address. If the email appears to have been sent by someone you know the phisherman knows that you’re more likely to open the fraudulent email and comply with its instructions. Family and Friend Impersonations Several victims have reported receiving email from a friend or family member who was on vacation and due to a very detailed emergency situation, they needed the wide-eyed and concerned target to send loot right away.  Details of the emergency vary. Common phish tales have included:   I was attacked by a robber and r...