Detecting fraud can be difficult because so much transactional information is handled by sophisticated software. There may be no "paper trail" because all the information is stored in databases, spreadsheets, online, or other electronic solutions. As a result, numerous companies have developed tools to compile and analyze financial information in an effort to detect and deter fraud. Here is a sampling of some of the available software tools.
- General Fraud Auditing -- ACL Services Ltd. provides several tools for testing and monitoring transactional information.
- Active Data Mining -- InformationActive, Inc. has developed add-on software that adds numerous data analysis features to Microsoft Excel.
- Data Analysis and Benford's Law of Outliers -- Mark J. Nigrini, PhD has also created add-on software for data analysis using Microsoft Excel.
- Audit Testing -- Caseware International Inc. offers software that can read, display, analyze, manipulate, sample or extract from data files from almost any source.
- Health Insurance Audit -- Dr. Will Yancy, CPA has compiled a list of consultants, associations, and software vendors to assist in auditing both public and private health insurance with claims processing and overpayment reviews.
- Anti Money Laundering -- Wolters Kluwer Financial Services has developed a package that automates comprehensive anti-money laundering, Bank Secrecy Act and USA PATRIOT Act compliance.
- Anti e-Commerce Fraud -- FraudLabs has created a suite of web services that track and analyze a wide variety of e-commerce information.
The preceding list is by no means exhaustive.