The role of the accountant in detecting and preventing financial fraud

Given the existing increasing rate of economic criminality, forensic accounting plays a key role in protecting the integrity of financial systems and fighting injustice. Individuals, businesses, and even governmental organizations may become targets of deceptive tactics that have a disastrous effect on their reputation and financial stability. This paper aims to analyze and underline the significance of forensic accounting in detecting financial frauds and methods of preventing it. It is essential to implement several kinds of internal controls in order to improve accountability and transparency within the system. The rise of Artificial Intelligence creates supplementary problems for companies and professionals in fighting fraud, as perpetrators may be tempted to use tools such as adaptive learning for phishing, imaging solutions to create fake documents and even deepfake technology to bypass video checks. In addition, due to the current economic difficulties, some companies may be tempted to reduce or not apply existing internal controls to simplify contracting procedures and avoid burdening their suppliers or customers with a lot of checks.