Fraudsters never sleep. They are forever angling for that indetectable doorway into systems and accounts. In many cases, finance professionals are the last defense against fraud, but the skills needed to be that backstop must stay sharp. Knowing how fraud happens, who turns to fraud, and the latest tricks fraudsters are using is essential. Highly focused and constantly updated continuing education is the key to preventing, spotting, and uprooting fraud at its earliest stages. 

Surgent CPE offers several fraud-related courses to help you employ a proactive approach that keeps pace with 21st century fraud. As continuing education goes, they represent a wise investment in knowledge that makes you a valuable asset able to protect clients and firms from the devastation of fraud. 

Surgent’s Quarterly Fraud Survey (QFRA)
Let’s be honest. The finance profession does its best to stay alert, but significant frauds keep coming. The fraudsters always manage to stay one step ahead.  

However, history doesn’t have to repeat itself. When the fraudsters are on the move, peeking into the recent past reveals valuable insight into their latest tactics. Each quarter, this course dissects recent and other related frauds from a variety of industries. It explores how the fraud occurred, the warning signs, and the breakdown in controls that let the fraud occur.  

The course also examines regulatory responses and enforcement activities related to the fraudulent activity. For lasting impact, the course emphasizes the lessons learned to ensure that similar frauds don’t happen again.  

This course is designed for all financial professionals interested in preventing and detecting fraud. By completing this course, you can expect to: 

• Identify recent fraudulent activity and its causes 
• Recall the internal control breakdowns related to recent fraudulent activity 
• Identify appropriate controls to prevent or detect fraud 
• Identify best practices in fraud prevention and detection

Some of the topics covered in this course include: 

• Recent frauds involving asset misappropriation and fraudulent financial reporting 
• Breakdowns in controls that allowed the fraud to occur 
• Effective fraud prevention controls 
• Best practices in preventing and detecting fraud 
• Professional requirements related to fraud detection

Winning the Fraud Battle in the Digital Age: Prevention and Detection (CFVV)
Fraud starts with people. Their circumstances vary, but they see an opportunity and get the glimmer of an idea. Reducing the overall risk of fraud begins with understanding the factors that turn honest employees and volunteers into fraudsters.

This course delves into that mindset, exploring integrity, ethics, and how people might react in certain situations. The course also touches on the dangers lurking in the Dark Web, plus cryptocurrency fraud. 

This course is designed for CPAs in public practice and industry who want to educate clients or colleagues on preventing fraud at its source. It’s also suitable for those who need discussion of controls used by fraud victim organizations and how to better implement and augment them. By completing this course, you can expect to:

• Understand the prevalence of fraud 
• Realize how organizations may cause fraud without realizing it 
• Comprehend the cost of fraud 
• See how the new COSO Framework for Internal Control focuses on fraud 
• Recognize potential tipoffs to fraudulent behavior 
• Comprehend information that indicates how some people respond differently to certain factors 
• Understand that there are many layers in fraud defense

Some of the topics covered in this course include:

• Fraud’s cost – ACFE’s Report to the Nations; Ancillary costs 
• Current economy – Microeconomics; Analyses 
• Deviant workplace behavior 
• Historic schemes 
• Combating fraud with controls 
• Fraud prevention checklists 
• The Dark Web

Government and Nonprofit Frauds and Controls to Stop Them (FCS4)
When stories of fraud make the news, they can look so obvious after the fact. Regardless of whether the fraud was material, the media and the public often ask how the auditor and those inside the entity couldn’t have detected it.

But as we know, fraud can be sneaky. This interactive course scrutinizes more than 20 recent frauds and, with the luxury of hindsight, studies how they happened and how they could have been prevented or detected. The highly illustrative and innovative format of the course materials keeps you engaged. More than 15 focused exercises build enhanced knowledge of fraud occurring in not-for-profit entities and governments.

This course is designed for auditors of not-for-profit entities and governments and industry professionals interested in preventing and detecting fraud. By completing this course, you can expect to:

• Improve your awareness of real-world frauds occurring in not-for-profit entities and governments  
• Implement useful fraud prevention tools  
• See how real-world frauds were discovered 

Some of the topics covered in this course include:

• Recent frauds that occurred in not-for-profit entities involving the theft of cash; falsified billings; improper use of credit cards; the redirection of cash and non-cash contributions; conversion of assets; the redirection of benefits; grant related fraud; and travel and expense reporting fraud  
• Recent frauds that occurred in governments involving falsified applications for benefits; payroll fraud; vendor fraud; kickbacks; workers compensation and risk management frauds; purchase card abuse; providing government services for personal benefit; misappropriation of utility payments; and theft of assets  
• Tools for fraud prevention and detection

What to look for in a CPE course
When you spend your time and money on a course, you should get more out of it than simply CPE credits. The best courses sharpen your practice so you can better serve your clients and your firm.

Watch for these features in a course that delivers true learning:

• Knowledgeable instructor 
• Clear presentation that keeps your interest 
• Current content 
• Relevant reference materials 
• Ability to ask questions 
• Applicability to your area of practice 
• Convenience that suits your schedule

Surgent CPE courses for all your accounting needs
The best CPE/CE courses deliver more than just credits for maintaining your certification. They also provide entrée into the brightest thinking and latest trends in the field, making you the go-to person in the most critical areas of accounting. Today, that includes waging the never-ending battle against fraud.  

With Surgent, you study smarter, not harder. Surgent’s packages offer your choice in self-study or webinar learning, or even unlimited access to both. If you’re looking for quality CPE/CE courses to help you stay up-to-date and better serve your clients, learn how Surgent CPE can meet all of your needs.