The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is a

professional organization A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that profession, and th ...

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compen ...

examiners. Its activities include producing fraud information, tools and training. Based in Austin, Texas, the ACFE was founded in 1988 by Joseph T. Wells. The ACFE grants the professional designation of Certified Fraud Examiner (abbreviated CFE).

Founder

Joseph T. Wells founded the ACFE and is its chairman. After graduating from the University of Oklahoma, he worked for ten years with the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice ...

, during which time he investigated the former

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

John N. Mitchell John Newton Mitchell (September 15, 1913 – November 9, 1988) was the 67th Attorney General of the United States under President Richard Nixon and chairman of Nixon's 1968 and 1972 presidential campaigns. Prior to that, he had been a municipal ...

's involvement in

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's continu ...

. In addition to his duties as chairman, Wells writes, researches and lectures to business and professional groups on

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

issues. He has written books and articles on fraud prevention and detection. His writings appear in professional journals.

Global Fraud Conference

With companies losing up to 5% of annual revenue to occupational fraud, the ability to detect and deter fraud is critical. Due to this, the ACFE created the largest anti-fraud conference in the world as an opportunity for those interested in developing the appropriate tools to combat fraud. The 32nd ACFE Global Fraud Conference will be held in Las Vegas on June 20–25, 2021.

Past ACFE Global Fraud Conferences

* 20th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2009'') • Las Vegas, Nevada * 21st ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2010'') • Washington, D.C. * 22nd ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2011'') • San Diego, California * 23rd ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2012'') • Orlando, Florida * 24th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2013'') • Las Vegas, Nevada * 25th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2014'') • San Antonio, Texas * 26th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2015'') • Baltimore, Maryland * 27th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2016'') • Las Vegas, Nevada * 28th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2017'') • Nashville, Tennessee * 29th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2018'') • Las Vegas, Nevada * 30th ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2019'') • Austin, Texas * 31st ACFE Global Fraud Conference (''2020'') • Boston, Massachusetts

Fraud museum

The ACFE runs a fraud museum containing exhibits linked to famous frauds, which is open to the public. ''America's Guide to Fraud Prevention'', written by the famous

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers h ...

ster Steve Comisar, is on display in the ACFE fraud museum. The book is considered a piece of fraud history.
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References

External links