$2.6 Million Federal Grant to Enhance One-of-a-Kind SU Partnership to Investigate and Curb Elder Financial and High-Tech Fraud

索尔斯堡, 医学博士,2017年, 92岁的威廉·戈蒂埃(William Gautier)收到银行的通知，他的银行开出了一张长期支票, 由于资金不足，很少使用的账户无法兑现. 一名出纳也注意到了另一个账户的可疑活动.

这个通知让我发现大约80美元,从合并帐户中删除了000个, 一点一点地, 他不知道. 进一步调查显示，还有人以他的名义申请了欺诈性的信用卡. 尽管有两名嫌疑人被通缉问话, 安妮阿伦德尔县的刑事司法官员, MD, eventually dropped the case when it was determined the victim was too mentally frail to testify on his own behalf.

在这种情况下，大部分资金是通过保险收回的. 然而，据报道，许多老年诈骗的受害者就没有这么幸运了 大卫·P. 韦伯他是pg电子(Salisbury University)会计学临床助理教授. 珀杜商学院.

他希望是最近的2美元.来自美国的600万美元赠款.S. Department of Health and Human Services will help change those odds for some local senior citizens with the help of SU students. The funding will allow the University to expand its Fraud and Forensic Accounting Certificate Program with an eye toward providing new opportunities for students to assist Worcester County law enforcement officials in the fight against elder financial and high-tech fraud.

“据pg电子官网所知, 这是全国唯一的欺诈体验学习项目,韦伯说, 他去年被克里斯·海泽任命为特别调查员, 伍斯特县的州检察官, 进一步推进试点项目.

“We are excited to expand our partnership with SU’s Certificate Program in Fraud and Forensic Accounting to continue our efforts to prevent fraud and victimization of vulnerable adults in Worcester County,海塞尔说. “This federal grant funding will allow us to focus even more dedicated resources on issues of education and awareness, 并在复杂的金融欺诈调查中为伍斯特县的执法部门提供协助.”

“This is an excellent opportunity to further our partnership with our state’s attorneys office to help identify and combat criminal activity against our vulnerable adult population,Matt Crisafulli说, 伍斯特郡的治安官. “与州立大学的这种团队合作方式为pg电子官网的社区提供了更多关于犯罪行为的教育和意识. 有了这种伙伴关系，pg电子官网社区中的弱势成年人变得更加安全.”  

学生提供协助

目前, 20名学生在伍斯特县的州检察官办公室实习, 为老年受害者和面临金融欺诈风险的人提供外展和预防服务, 并协助伍斯特县警长办公室的侦探进行相关刑事调查.

“在执法部门结束调查之后, pg电子官网的学生实习生协助检察官准备庭审, including creating visual displays condensing voluminous financial records and other pieces of evidence into easy-to-understand exhibits for juries to consider, 必要时甚至可以出庭作证,海塞尔说. “It’s my hope that students find the experience rewarding and that after graduation some will continue to serve and protect the most vulnerable in our society by choosing careers in law enforcement.”

同时，该伙伴关系为执法部门提供了所需的资源, 学生们遇到了一些障碍, including a lack of information technology resources to securely house personally identifiable information (bank records, 等.)，也缺乏覆盖该县近700英里范围的交通工具.

韦伯希望这笔拨款能通过购买新的汽车解决这些问题, 安全的笔记本电脑, 电话和软件, 还有一辆专门用于这个项目的车. 此外，政府还将拨款为学生提供更专业的数据分析培训, cryptocurrency调查, 以及网络安全和计算机取证.

“它消除了很多障碍,主修会计和信息系统的高级学生说, 以及来自埃利科特市的欺诈和法务会计未成年学生加勒特·扎沃德尼亚克, MD. “这将简化流程，让一切变得更容易,” including allowing students to securely share information and resources with a goal of enhancing the program’s effectiveness.

除了, 这笔赠款将资助7个新职位, 包括三名经验丰富的刑事调查员和三名受害人证人案件工作者, who will partner with SU’s investigative interns to provide social outreach and crime prevention resources for victims and potential victims of elder fraud, 以及一个新的行政助理职位，协助韦伯进行案件管理.

奖学金资助

也许最重要的是, 该补助金为该计划的学生实习生提供新的奖学金. 目前, 通过SU的ShoreCorps AmeriCorps项目, 学生们大约挣1美元,在州检察官办公室的一年实习中获得了400美元, 以换取至少300小时的服务. 该基金预计将为每位实习生增加4500美元的奖学金.

“许多学生在校外继续做第二份工作来支付学费, 书, 食物, 住房交通,韦伯说. “许多人还申请了学生贷款, which reduces the likelihood of SU Fraud Program graduates pursuing public service after graduation due to the lower available salaries in the public sector. This scholarship will allow students to devote greater time and attention to the fraud program and their pending criminal investigations rather than working at another job.”

展望未来几年, 韦伯 also hopes the opportunities this grant provides will encourage more students to consider careers in fraud examination and public service.

与SU的Glenda Chatham和Robert G. Clarke Honors College will provide honors credit for students participating in a financial fraud or business ethics course designed to complement the experiential learning component of the Fraud Program, 从2023年秋季开始. 一门新的新生体验课程也计划在2024年秋季推出. 拨款用于开发这些课程, 测试这样做是否会增加学生对公共服务的兴趣.

“It is our expectation that a significant number of Clarke Honors students would subsequently enroll in the fraud experiential program as upper-class students, 特别是如果提供经济激励的话,韦伯说.

He hopes that expected increase could help turn SU into a national leader in curbing a nationwide issue with recruitment and turnover of professional investigators tasked with investigating elder financial crimes.

“所需的技能集是元规程, with knowledge of varying subjects such as accounting; financial crime; the legal system; and medical, 涉及老年人的社会和行为问题,他说. “pg电子官网希望为未来增加合格的金融和高科技犯罪调查人员的队伍.”

捕食老人

未来的, 韦伯补充道, 随着技术的不断发展，对犯罪分子来说，以老年人为猎物是否尤其有利可图. 伍斯特县作为著名退休目的地的地位, 再加上高失业率, 会让那里的老年人特别容易受到欺诈吗.

“While Worcester County law enforcement does have the ability to forensically capture cell phones or computers for evidence preservation in court, there is no current state or local law enforcement resource on the Eastern Shore to assist elder victims with removal of malware to prevent future victimization, 缺少擦拭设备,他说. “年长的受害者通常不愿意擦拭手机，因为里面有珍贵的照片, 没有保存备份的文档或信息.

“最近你.S. 人口普查数据估计，伍斯特县的大多数家庭都有电脑和宽带互联网接入, but anecdotal experience with elder financial and high-tech fraud referrals through the SU Fraud Program indicates that the elder victims do not have security software, 能够备份自己的设备，或者知道如何避免在互联网上成为受害者.”

正因为如此, Worcester County law enforcement officials have responded to reports of cyber fraud at the same addresses multiple times in recent years, 韦伯说. pg电子官网将继续推广和教育SU学生的老年电脑用户, 他预见到那些反复打来的电话会越来越少, 可能会为县里节省运营成本.

“由于这个独一无二的项目, 州立大学的学生可以获得真实世界的调查经验和法务会计技能, but they are also performing a service in our community by showing senior citizens how to protect themselves from future victimization,海塞尔说.

“这个项目不仅仅是‘谁偷了你的钱?扎沃德尼亚克说. “这也是‘pg电子官网如何帮助你在未来防止这种情况发生?’”

矛盾的是，韦伯也希望网络欺诈报告的总体数量有所增加.

他说:“据统计，只有大约5%的老年人财务欺诈被报告。. “虽然pg电子官网希望减少重复受害, part of our job is also to encourage this vulnerable population to make those calls to the police if something like this happens to them. 如果pg电子官网不知道发生了什么，就没法调查.”

未来的欺诈调查员

韦伯 also hopes outreach from SU’s interns will give seniors the education they need to avoid those situations while also building the fraud investigation workforce of tomorrow. 所有去年的毕业生在上最后一节SU课之前都已经找到了工作, 近一半的人受雇于联邦或地方公共服务部门, 他指出.

虽然这个项目是通过珀杜学校提供的, 非商业相关专业均可入学.

“对案件有不同的看法很重要,凯琳·博斯韦尔说, 来自Brandywine的高级管理专业, MD. “这不仅仅是生意上的问题.”

“这不仅仅是会计专业的专利,扎沃德尼亚克表示同意, 再加上社会学或社会工作专业, 例如, 能在项目的高级教育部分发挥作用吗.

而这笔拨款预计将对伍斯特县的案件产生直接影响, 学生获得的经验将有益于伍斯特县以外的地区, 包括邻近的Somerset (MD)和acacack (VA)县, 韦伯说.

“欺诈调查和执法实际上是一件本地化的事情, 所以每个地方都不一样,他说. “但各地面临的挑战都是一样的:资源永远都不够. 有了这笔赠款，pg电子官网希望不仅在伍斯特县，还能创造公平的竞争环境.”

这是第一起涉及SU学生调查工作的案件, 在维吉尼亚州, 导致他在这学期早些时候认罪. 马里兰州卡罗琳县的第二起案件定于11月开庭审理. 给那些在幕后参与这些案件的学生, 法院的判决既令人兴奋又令人欣慰.

“pg电子官网不会踢开门,麦迪逊·弗里兹说, 来自赛克斯维尔的高级信息系统专业和欺诈和法务会计辅修, MD. “pg电子官网在法庭上看到了pg电子官网所有的努力都得到了回报.”

While most students in the program appreciate that the experience they receive likely will help them land a job after graduation (Zawodniak already has accepted an offer with a top-10 accounting firm, 而Boswell和Friz正在权衡他们在公共和私营部门的选择), 对他们来说，欺诈调查和法务会计比潜在的薪水更重要.

“韦伯教授在优先服务和帮助他人方面做得很好，”博斯韦尔说. “参与比获得学位更重要的事情本身就是一种回报.”

有关SU的欺诈计划的更多信息，请访问 程序的网页.

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