It is a sad fact that the best way to get away with fraud is to target a large number of individual victims for modest amounts of money. When a victim loses a few $1000 there is very little they can achieve by going to the authorities. They will be seen by a junior law enforcement agent who will take their statement from them. Smaller fraud victims will likely be dismissed and probably never hear about the problem again.
If a large enough number of people complain in this way, the authorities might see a problem and put their scarce resources to the task of investigating the fraud. It is possible then that the victim will read about the investigation a year or two later and maybe, if they are lucky, learn that the fraudsters have been prosecuted. It is unlikely that they will ever receive any of their money back.
If a smaller victim of fraud is to obtain any recompense they must ensure that a measured approach is taken. The first step would be to recruit a forensic accountant who is also a fraud specialist. Of course this needs to be an independent specialist and not a large firm from the city – otherwise costs would be prohibitive.
As it is, the cost of any good forensic accountant will still outweigh the loss experienced by a smaller fraud victim. Therefore, it is necessary for some or all of the victims to band together to jointly fund the initial forensic investigation. If sufficient victims group together it may only cost a few $ to find the few $1000 needed for the expert fraud investigator to prepare his report.
The report at this first stage will be a short letter to the law enforcement agency explaining exactly what is going on and giving examples and illustrations of evidence available should they decide to pursue the matter. Armed with this the victims will have more chance of enlisting the efforts of the authorities.
Recovery of the losses can be made in two ways once a dedicated investigation is under way. A victim claim can be submitted for compensation once the fraudsters are brought to book and confiscation proceeding ensue. Alternatively the forensic accountant can continue with his fraud investigation, unofficially “piggy backing” on the criminal investigation and assist the victims with a civil asset recovery action through the courts.
