Albany State University and the University System of Georgia are proud participants of International Fraud Awareness Week, Nov. 13-19, 2016.  In support of this effort, ASU will host activities to further promote a more ethical culture on campus.

Activities during the week will help bring awareness to fraud prevention and will reinforce the USG’s culture of recognizing the hard work of all employees and promoting shared values of integrity, excellence, accountability and responsibility. ASU will join other state colleges and universities for the weeklong campaign. This year’s theme is “SPIRIT of USG – Celebrating OUR Ethical Culture.” All planned events will emphasize: Stewardship, Prevention, Integrity, Responsibility, Inspiration and Trust.

“No organization is exempt from the potential for fraud and the resulting risk to an institution’s reputation and its employees. It is the intent of the Office of Internal Audits to provide Albany State University and Darton State College employees and students with valuable and applicable information to fight fraud, waste and abuse,” said Katherine Kikivarakis, regional director of the ASU Office of Internal Audits.

The week’s main event is a fraud and cybersecurity presentation, conducted by FBI Atlanta, Columbus RA official, David K. Drew. The event will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 11 a.m. in the Billy C. Black Auditorium on the campus of ASU. The presentation will include information on the malicious software ransomware, the virtual currency Bitcoin, the Tor network and the Darknet. Criminal justice classes from ASU and DSC will be in attendance. In addition, the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office and the Albany Police Department will provide information on crime prevention.

The awareness program is part of a comprehensive Ethics and Compliance Program which includes ethics training, mandatory compliance training, assurance audits, consulting engagements and an ethics and compliance reporting hotline.