A Fraud Fighter's Toolbox: From Ethical Lies to GAO Guidelines
Event Details:
Date: Friday, June 27, 2025
Time: 8:30AM - 12:30 PM EST
Field of Study: Fraud
CPE credits: 4 CPEs
Fee: $50
Location (Online webinar): Zoom link will be provided prior to event.
Event Description:
Session I
Title: The Paradox of Ethical Lying - Turnning a Hacker’s Tricks into Your Tactics
Speaker: Kathy Collins
Speaker Bio: Kathy Collins is a Security Consultant at Secure Ideas. She specializes in a wide range of penetration testing, from physical to web applications. She contributes to the Secure Ideas knowledge center and serves as a key coordinator for Bsides Jacksonville. Kathy studied Cybersecurity at Fullstack Academy New York and has earned certifications such as CISSP and PCIP.
Session II
Title: GAO's Fraud Risk Framework & Application in Audit Work
Speakers: Mariana Calderon, Flavio Martinez
Speaker Bio: Mariana Calderón is the Assistant Director for Data Analysis in GAO’s Forensic Audits and Investigative Service team. Since joining GAO in 2010, Ms. Calderón has worked on performance and forensic audits across the federal government in areas such as federal healthcare programs, disaster recovery efforts, and federal student loans. She has conducted and overseen extensive forensic audits to find fraud, waste, and abuse indicators in federal programs using various data analysis methods. Her programming languages include SAS, SQL, and Python. Ms. Calderón earned her Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harris School at the University of Chicago. She also earned a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Bachelor’s degree from DePaul University in Chicago, IL. She is a Certified Fraud Examiner.
Speaker Bio: Mr. Martinez is a Senior Analyst with GAO’s Forensic Audits and Investigative Service team. He has over 16 years of auditing experience with GAO. He has led and performed a variety of performance audits of federal programs. He is a certified GAO instructor and teaches courses at the GAO, including the application of GAO’s Standards of Internal Controls in the Federal Government (i.e., “The Green Book’) and GAO’s protocols for working with audited entities. He is also a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Certified Inspector General Auditor and instructor for the Association of Inspectors General (AIG). He received his MPA degree from the Inspectors General Program at John Jay College and graduated with a BA from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Learning Objective: The presenters will provide an overview of GAO’s Fraud Risk Framework, including case studies of GAO audit work that used the Framework as criteria. Participants will learn how data analytics can be used in evaluating fraud risk management practices and be introduced to a web-based tool on GAO’s public website that can help identify potential fraud risks.
