Accountants have historically had an important role in the detection and deterrence of fraud. As Joe Wells' Principles of Fraud Examination, 4th Edition illustrates, fraud is much more than numbers; books and records don't commit fraud – people do. Widely embraced by fraud examination instructors across the country, Principles of Fraud Examination, 4th Edition, by Joseph Wells, is written to provide a broad understanding of fraud to today's accounting students – what it is and how it is committed, prevented, detected, and resolved. This 4th Edition of the text includes a chapter on frauds perpetrated against organizations by individuals outside their staff—a growing threat for many entities as commerce increasingly crosses technological and geographical borders.

JOSEPH T. WELLS, CPA, CFE, is the founder and Chairman of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and a former adjunct professor of fraud examination at the University of Texas at Austin. He writes, researches, and lectures to business and professional groups on fraud-related issues and is frequently quoted in the media. He has won top writing awards from both Internal Auditor and the Journal of Accounting magazines, and he is a winner of the Innovation in Accounting Education Award presented by the American Accounting Association. For his landmark research in fraud detection and deterrence, Mr. Wells has been inducted into the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Business and Industry Hall of Fame and named to Accounting Today's list of top 100 most influential people for the last nine years in a row.