Data Sleuth

Chapter 9Standard Data Sleuth Analyses: Comparative Analysis and Source and Use Summaries

PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT of the Source and Use Summary, I would use the filter and sorting functions in spreadsheet software to analyze and manipulate bank statement data and credit card statement data. I would look for anomalies within the data for which further investigation was needed. Having years of experience entering data into a spreadsheet, I was familiar with identifying unusual transactions based on the case strategy, but I had never stopped to specifically consider what made the transactions unusual. There was no defined process or methodology, and I struggled to communicate and train analysts to assist with the ever-growing caseload.

One afternoon, my only data analyst at the time asked me, “What does fraud look like? How do I know it when I see it?” These questions forced me, for the first time, to specifically pinpoint the steps I would take to find what was important in bank and credit card statement data for an investigation. At the end of the discussion, the analyst said, “So people commit fraud by writing checks to themselves?” Although it sounded too simple at the time, I discovered that she was absolutely correct. Through the identification of the ways in which someone has access and opportunity to divert funds for their personal gain and benefit, that is where fraud is found. Simplifying the analysis to highlight potential transactions of theft allowed me to build ...