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Review of Business Fraud

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Assignment 1: Review of Business Fraud
Tara Johnson
Professor: Jim Ridilla, CPA
ACC 564— Accounting Information Systems
May 1, 2012

Assignment 1: Review of Business Fraud
Compose a summary of the case. Include how the fraud was perpetrated, the characteristics of the perpetrator(s) who committed the fraud, the role the auditors had in the case, and the direct and indirect effects the incident had on the organization’s stakeholders (customers, vendors, employees, executive committee, and board of directors).
In 2011 Bank of America suffered a data breach from within the company that cost Bank of America approximately $10 million. A former Bank of America employee provided confidential information to a criminal fraud ring. That data was then used to steal funds from 300 customers in California and other states in the western United States. The names, addresses, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, bank account numbers, driver’s license numbers, birth dates, email addresses, mother’s maiden names, PINs and account balances were among the information that was released. That information was ultimately used to open new accounts, order checks, and make other bank transactions without the customer’s knowledge.
This incident decreased the amount of trust the customers had in the company. The fraudsters were engaging in this activity for nearly a year and it should have been detected sooner. This fraudulent activity directly and indirectly affected it stakeholders. Bank of America’s customers may not believe they can trust them with their personal information, not only because of the information breach but because of the lack of internal controls that could have prevented it, the amount of time it took them to detect the fraud and the time it took them to notify its customers.

Suggest the fraud classification(s) the case can be categorized into

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