Fraud in a World of Advanced Technologies

The Possibilities are (Unfortunately) Endless

Mark A. Nickerson, CPA, CMA

In BriefFor many years, internal controls have been the focus of auditors' risk assessment as they seek to attest that the control environment is working effectively to minimize the potential for fraud. As standards have evolved to focus more on fraud, so has technology. Innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and blockchain have been touted as tools that will assist in identifying fraud; however, what if they actually make that job much more difficult by enabling potential fraudsters to perpetrate more robust and harder-to-detect crimes? The author investigates this question and arrives at some disturbing conclusions.