"Occupational fraud is a serious threat to every society and the efficient functioning of every economy."  What [ACFE members] are doing in a very real sense is critical to our national economy and its effective functioning,” U.S. Senator George Mitchell (ret.). According to research conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), U.S. organizations lose an estimated 7 percent of annual revenues to fraud. Based on the projected U.S. Gross Domestic Product for 2008, this percentage indicates a staggering estimate of losses around $994 billion among organizations, despite increased emphasis on anti-fraud controls and recent legislation to combat fraud.

Fraud is clearly an issue that has a direct impact on a macro economic scale, as well as, a personal level.  Bonuses, salary increases and benefits are all affected by fraud as a affected companies need to generate 10 dollars in revenue to make up for every dollar lost to fraud based on a 10% profit margin.  This recovery burden is particularly high for small business with fewer than 100 employees, as they face a median loss of $200,000 per fraud scheme as reported by the 2008 ACFE report to the nation. To recover from this loss, the revenue required on a 10% profit margin is $2 million dollars.

Certified Fraud Examiners are experts specialized in the prevention and detection of fraud in its many forms.  CFEs provide the guidance, tools, and knowhow to help organizations structure and implement fraud prevention programs to effectively manage the risk of fraud as well as conducting investigations of allegations of fraud. Behind them is the ACFE with 20 years as the world’s premier provider of anti-fraud training and education and with 50,000 members in 125 countries. CFEs are required to participate in an continuing professional education program and obtain 20 hours of training a year.  The CFE certification and access ACFE to member resources help CFEs stay on the cutting edge of fighting fraud in an ever changing industry.