Most auditors miss red flags not because they’re careless, but because they haven’t been trained to spot them. We often assume fraud is rare or that someone else will uncover it. The reality? Fraud is more common than we think, and auditors are often the last line of defense. The problem is, many of us aren't equipped with the mindset or the tools to detect it.

This session takes a hands-on approach to changing that. Rather than just listing common fraud schemes or giving you another theory-heavy lecture, we’ll walk through a real-world scenario filled with subtle — but revealing — red flags. You’ll be challenged to think critically, ask the right questions, and choose what testing steps you'd take to uncover the truth.

The goal? To sharpen your instincts and improve your ability to recognize when something doesn’t add up.

We’ll also explore how to take these lessons further: how to create an internal fraud awareness training plan, and how to build fraud detection into your existing audit process. By doing so, you’ll move from passive detection to active fraud awareness, without needing to become a full-time forensic investigator.

Whether you're a seasoned auditor or just starting out, this session will open your eyes to how much you may be missing — and how much better you can become at spotting the signs when something’s wrong.

Areas Covered

Who Should Attend    

Internal Auditors, Fraud Examiners, Senior Internal Auditors, Internal Audit Managers, Internal Audit Directors

Why Should You Attend    

If you're an auditor, the truth is simple: you're probably missing signs of fraud. Not because you're not doing your job, but because you haven’t been shown how to see the warning signs clearly.

Fraud doesn’t always scream. Often, it whispers. A slightly strange pattern in the data. A hesitant answer during an interview. A document that just feels a little too clean. These are the kinds of things most audits overlook. And yet, they're the very places fraud likes to hide.

In this session, you'll get the chance to step into a real-life case study and put your skills to the test. You'll be asked:

More than just training, this is an opportunity to reframe the way you think about your role. You’ll learn how to build fraud awareness into your everyday audit process, making fraud detection a proactive part of your work, not an afterthought.

You’ll also walk away with a roadmap for developing a fraud awareness training plan in your organization, giving your whole team the tools to see more, ask more, and protect more.

Fraud isn’t going away — but after this session, you’ll be much better prepared to find it.

Topic Background    

Auditors are often seen as guardians of accountability, yet very few are truly equipped to detect fraud. Most audit training programs touch briefly on fraud red flags — often as a checklist or a few slides in a larger module — but rarely go deep. Meanwhile, stakeholders expect auditors to not only catch fraud but to prevent it from slipping through the cracks entirely.

That disconnect between expectation and preparation creates risk, both for the auditor and the organization. Fraud isn’t always dramatic or obvious. It can hide in plain sight: unusual transactions, offhand comments, small inconsistencies that don’t quite fit.

Unless we know what to look for and how to follow our instincts, these signs often get missed.

This session was created to help close that gap. Through a realistic scenario and guided decision-making, participants will learn to think like fraud-aware auditors — and to take those skills back to their teams and audit processes.