Speaking at the 21st annual ACFE Fraud Conference and Exhibition will be Utica College, informing members about its new curriculum aimed at fighting white collar crime.
The college is one of the few in the U.S. that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs relating to detecting and fighting economic crimes. Curriculum centered around these types of crime includes topics on identity theft, fraud management and cybersecurity. Additionally, the courses and degrees allow graduates to focus their education in either the public or private sector.
The coursework that makes up the degree programs is derived in large part from the Utica College Economic Crime Institute and the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection. The centers are focused both on raising awareness of these crimes and putting detection and resolution measures into practice.
"The most effective weapon against economic crime is an educated mind trained in the use of the latest technology and techniques to detect and fight this expanding threat to our global economic security," Utica College criminal justice professor and executive director of the Economic Crime Institute George Curtis said. "Through our comprehensive roster of online bachelor's and master's degree programs, Utica College is giving more men and women than ever before the opportunity to take leadership roles in this fight, while preparing them for a career of significance as they work in both the private and government sectors."
A number of credit organizations, consumer agencies and law enforcement offices are actively involved in educating Americans about the risks of fraud and identity theft - which affects 11 million individuals each year. But many criminals are getting creative in their scams, forcing Americans to impose tighter security measures.
Individuals can avoid scams that may compromise their personal information by making sure their personal computers are updated with the latest security and anti-virus software. Americans should also avoid opening emails from unrecognized individuals and websites as well as links and messages on their social networking sites to prevent falling victim to a phishing scam. Shredding credit card offers, financial statements and other documents that displays their personal information may keep their sensitive data hidden from "dumpster divers." Consumers can also detect any suspicious activity by monitoring their credit card and bank statements and obtaining a copy of their credit report each year to examine for accuracy.