The success of a fraud investigation
depends on the ability of the fraud investigator to effectively conduct a
proper and informed investigative process. Like any other discipline,
investigation also follows a specific which can be customizable depending on
the industry and type of investigation being conducted. This form serves as a
guide for the investigator that helps validate all the information gathered
during the process of investigation.
Familiarizing yourself with the
different stages and processes utilized in an investigation can help you
conduct and conclude an investigation faster without missing any crucial
information. All the different stages in the investigation play a major role in
establishing your case, missing any of these crucial pieces can cause your case
to easily crumble down. To give you an idea about the different stages of
investigation, check out the details below;
- Interview
One of the first tasks that you need
to do in fraud investigation is to validate the issue or allegation. Conducting an interview will
help you address this task and provide you with a clearer picture regarding the
severity of the fraud that has taken place. An interview fraud expert can draft
a list of guide questions that can help you get the information that you need
from your interviewees. The interview usually starts by calling on the
complainant and then followed by the third party witnesses.
- Collection of Evidence
After you establish that there has
been a malicious intent and that a fraud has indeed been committed, the next
step will be to provide proof. Gathering of evidence is similar to creating
documentation for the fraud that is being investigated. The evidence should
back all the claims stated during the interview. This may include phone calls,
emails, messaging, pictures and other forms of acceptable evidence that will
back up the story of the complainant and the witnesses.
- Analysis of the Evidence
Analyzing the evidence means making
sense of all the information that you have so far. Using the evidence from the fraud investigation you can finally begin constructing or simulating your own
if and then scenarios. This is the testing process. You can try out all your
hypothesis and find out which ones will make sense and has the highest
probability. During this process, you may need more information or require more
evidence that will help validate your final conclusion.
The conclusion of the fraud
investigation will then be utilized to move on to the next step. In some cases,
the next step will be reporting to authorities. The local authorities can look
into the fraud investigation papers that you prepared and counter check all the
evidence that led you to the conclusion to file a formal complaint. If there’s
enough compelling evidence the police can then assist you to file a case
against the fraudster so they can make an arrest.
This information makes up some of
the basic parts of fraud investigation. Using these stages as a guide during a
fraud investigation does not only help you get accurate results, but can also
speed up the process of putting a fraudulent activity to a stop.
