Business Commons^™

Deceptive Appeals And Cognitive Influences Used In Fraudulent Scheme Sales Pitches, Rafael J. Toledo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fraud schemes exploit the complex interplay that results from utilizing deceptive appeals to activate underlying cognitive influences. This study was designed, first, to identify the deceptive appeals present in the messaging of fraudulent schemes and, second, to identify the underlying cognitive influences being exploited by the deceptive appeals utilized. Findings reveal that effectively used deceptive appeals work to keep viewers’ mental processes in a state of cognitive ease. This state allows cognitive influences--such as heuristics, cognitive biases, and the System 1 mind--to remain in control of mental processing; however, System 1 is prone to accept deceptive beliefs. The results of …

The Implications Of Fraud On Non-Shareholder Stakeholders, Chasen P. Spicer

Senior Theses

Popular news outlets such as The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal frequently release articles detailing the financial losses incurred by shareholders of a company that have recently been publicly exposed for their fraudulent activities (Shumsky, 2018; Whitmire, 2005). Given that shareholders are visibly impacted by fraud, it is also reasonable to believe that other stakeholders experience repercussions from the fraudulent activities carried out by the company (Velikonja, 2013). To provide more insight into the implications of fraud incurred by non-shareholder stakeholders, I conduct a case study analysis of HealthSouth’s various fraudulent activities between the years of 1997 …

Forensic Investigation Of Fraud In Village Government Agencies: An Ethnographic Study In Indonesian, Khairul Shaleh, Gugus Irianto, Ali Djamhuri, Noval Adib

The Qualitative Report

The utilization of the Village Fund budget has resulted in many improvements in facilities and infrastructure for rural areas. Still, we cannot deny there is a misuse of the funding in some village governments. In this study, we aimed to understand how fraud occurs in village government institutions because there is a patron-client relationship in a bureaucratic environment. This research is an ethnographic study using data collection methods in the form of field observations, documenting files that have relevance for research, and in-depth interviews with informants by applying the snowball technique to obtain informants. The field findings show that the …

Conditions For Increased Fraud Risk: A Case Study By Restaurant Segment, Elizabeth A. Yost

Journal of Hospitality Financial Management

Risk factors leading to fraud is an important issue for restaurant operators. This paper identifies and evaluates the financial and non-financial characteristics of different restaurant segments through the lens of the fraud triangle. Using probit modeling and time series data from 2004 to 2014, it investigates different factors that significantly impact the increased risk of fraud in four types of restaurant segments—quick service, fast casual, casual dining, and fine dining. As such the findings of this study provide a better understanding of internal and external risk factors leading to increased fraud in the restaurant industry.

Downfalls Of Economy Leading Small Businesses: A Study Of Corrective Actions, Alexis N. Davis

Honors College Theses

This study explores the significance of inappropriate accounting procedures and their detrimental effects on small businesses. This conceptual study is centered around small business decisions made by decision makers with weak understanding of financial literacy. The study highlights a series of improvements to weak internal controls that are not uncommon in small businesses.

Earnings Management In Response To Fair Treatment: The Roles Of Organizational Identity And Moral Identity, Kimberly M. Bates

Management Dissertations

Fraud continues to be an issue that organizations face globally, losing an estimated 5% of annual revenue for a total of $4.5 trillion globally. However, fraudulent behavior is difficult to study due to the unacceptable nature of it. I provide researchers with an adapted measure of earnings management that mitigates the socially undesirable act of earnings management which can suppress findings in self-reported studies. Additionally, based on the target similarity model, my dissertation considers accountants’ perception of fair treatment by the organization on willingness to engage in earnings management benefiting the organization. I survey 123 financial and managerial accountants to …

Theranos: Case Study And Examination Of The Fraud Triangle, Abbey Jennings

Finance Undergraduate Honors Theses

Fraud is a serious issue which carries significant implications. Fraud committed by top level managers is particularly grievous, as it ripples through a firm, harming the company’s shareholders, employees, and credibility, while posing a threat to individuals and society (Zahra, et al.). A common framework in auditing, the fraud triangle, outlines three factors that if present, increase the risk or enable fraud to occur. The three factors are incentive, opportunity, and rationalization to commit fraud (Barlow).

In 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Elizabeth Holmes, founder and CEO of a supposedly groundbreaking health tech company, Theranos, with what …

Misreading Menetti: The Case Does Not Help You Avoid Liability For Your Own Fraud, Val D. Ricks

St. Mary's Law Journal

Several decades ago, an incorrect legal idea surfaced in Texas jurisprudence: that business entity actors are immune from liability for fraud that they themselves commit, as if the entity is solely responsible. Though the Supreme Court of Texas has rejected that result several times, it keeps coming back. The most recent manifestation is as a construction of Texas’s unique veil-piercing statute. Many lawyers have suggested that this view of the veil-piercing statute originated in Menetti v. Chavers, a San Antonio Court of Appeals case decided in 1998. Menetti has in fact played a prominent role in the movement to …

Online Fraud By Way Of Phishing Emails, Alexis Nixon

Graduate Scholarly Works

With the rise of people using the Internet more since Covid-19 started, there has been an increase in fraud cases that occur on the internet as well. Some of these frauds occur by way of romance scams, inauthentic products or even investment fraud. The single type of fraud that was researched and discussed below is the use of phishing emails to commit fraud. Here the perpetrator sends out the same email in a mass quantity, with hopes of getting as many people to fall victim to as possible. The email usually looks like it is legitimate and coming from your …

Strategies And Internal Control Procedures For Decreasing Fraud In Faith-Based Nonprofit Organizations, Shawn Thomas Miller

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study addressed the problem regarding the lack of strategies and internal controls in faith-based nonprofit organizations which resulted in a higher risk of fraud, waste of funds, or abuse of funds in charities, churches, and other related ministries. This risk was the result of trust by organizations that employees would not commit fraud and due to a lack of sufficient resources. This study specifically researched faith-based nonprofit organizations that are located in Texas. This qualitative case study included two faith-based nonprofit organizations located in or near Houston, Texas. The research found several themes including: frauds occur, segregation of duties, …

Auditor Inability To Use Professional Skepticism, Tiffany D. Schuster

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study sought to understand challenges to Louisville, Kentucky Certified Public Accounting firms and the development of auditor professional skepticism. The research considered the problem of the lack of professional skepticism and the importance of the skill in the auditor's role. The study focused on three levels of auditing roles, their experience in auditing, education levels, and overall experience in their current role. The research methodology was a single case study design and interviewed participants through gaining insight from their experiences in the auditing field, and the challenges faced. The research deepened the understanding of problems and contributing factors …

Chief Loophole Officer Or Chief Legal Officer: Inside Lehman Brothers—A Film Case Study About Corporate And Legal Ethics, Garrick Apollon

St. Mary's Journal on Legal Malpractice & Ethics

This Article discusses the continuing legal education (CLE) visual advocacy documentary-style program, which Garrick Apollon (author of this Article) researched and developed. The case study for this CLE documentary-style program is the film Inside Lehman Brothers—a documentary film by Jennifer Deschamps which chronicles the story of the Lehman whistleblowers. The film presents Mathew Lee, former senior vice president overseeing Lehman’s global balance sheet; Oliver Budde, former in-house counsel (associate general counsel) of the Lehman Brothers; and the racialized female mid-tier manager whistleblowers, who all paid a steep price in the 2008 American subprime mortgage crisis, while many of the …

Strategies For Developing And Implementing Internal Controls For Mitigating Retail Consumer Fraud, Anna Marie Foye

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The lack of consumer fraud internal controls can destroy a small business. Small retail business owners who do not practice good internal controls are susceptible to early failure. Using the fraud triangle theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies small retail business owners use to develop and implement internal controls for mitigating retail consumer fraud. Participants consisted of four small retail business owners in the Southeastern United States who practiced effective internal controls. Data were collected from semistructured interviews and financial documents and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: financials, monitoring, and segregation …

Strategies That Retail Business Owners Use To Prevent And Reduce Employee Theft, Mohammed Alcobary

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Retail business owners suffer billions of dollars in financial loss from employee theft and fraud activities, which impacts a retail business owner’s ability to remain financially stable and profitable. Retail business leaders are accountable for employee theft because employee theft goes beyond the financial loss to impact business failure and the organization’s loss of reputation. Grounded in Cressey’s fraud triangle theory, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies retail business leaders use to prevent and mitigate employee theft. Participants included six retail business leaders in Nigeria who had successfully used strategies to prevent and reduce …