Data mining

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Warfield & Associates
Level 17, 60 Castlereagh Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel : (612) 9231 7588
Fax: (612) 9231 7575

Most modern organisations store the majority of their financial information such as customer information, employee data, vendor data, journal entries and transactions in vast electronic databases.  

An entity’s information systems are an important source of information on fraud, corruption and other unethical behaviour.  However, many organisations find it difficult to highlight suspicious transactions as they do not possess the right tools or the relevant expertise to efficiently ‘connect the dots’ to identify them.

The sheer volume of transactions entered into often means that without the utilisation of data mining software, suspicious transactions that require further investigation can remain undetected.  However, fraud invariably raises warning signals for those who know what to look for, and where to find it.  Forensic data mining applies knowledge discovery techniques to the detection and prevention of fraud, corruption or unethical behaviours.  It isolates the “red flags” that signal something is amiss. 

So what is data mining ?  It is identifying interesting and meaningful patterns and rules in large data sets.  Data mining is a way of converting this data to knowledge thus enhancing organisational performance.

At Warfield & Associates, we long ago realised the potential for using data mining in fraud and corruption prevention and have developed a suite of red flags from our extensive prevention, detection and investigation experience.

We use sophisticated data mining software that allows us to analyse large volumes of raw data from business systems, applications, databases, web sites, and text based mediums.

For example, the abuse of corporate credit cards can be detected by data mining software by analysing the transaction datasets relating to weekend or holiday transactions, large round amounts, regular transactions with the same merchant etc.

We believe that it is important to marry business knowledge with data mining skills to ensure that we work with the client.  The business experts act as navigators while the data miners are the drivers of the data mining processes.

Where is it effective to use data mining ?  High risk areas in many organisations include purchasing, payment and expense records, although data mining can be effective in sales, inventory, insurance claims, superannuation payments and entitlements and other areas of organisations where the potential for fraud can exist.

It can be used on very large data sets, and on multiple databases, even legacy systems.

Warfield & Associates offers the following advantages

• analyses 100 percent of data populations, including data from many sources.
• builds on tried and tested methodologies
• customised routines developed by experienced fraud investigators and forensic accountants
• development of specific routines to meet individual client needs
• specific routines for identifying irregularities within accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and expense reimbursement data sets

Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Forensic data mining is a highly specialised skill set based on an intimate knowledge of fraudulent behaviours, business processes and IT systems.

Warfield & Associates has the experience and knowledge to help your organisation reveal the secrets hidden in its systems.