Red Flags Accounting Fraud Game is a single-player game that can be downloaded from the iOS and Google Play Store. Just as physical red flags were used in the past to alert people to the dangers ahead, the game has been named as such, so that players will bear in mind that each red flag they raise while playing the game is a signal of a potential accounting fraud that needs to be tackled. At the outset, players can opt for the ‘Story’ or ‘Lecture’ mode. In the case of the Story mode, players will have to complete each round in two minutes. For the duration of each round, if they wish to pause the game at any time, they can click on the pause button at the top right-hand corner of the screen. If they opt for the Lecture mode, they will not face any time restriction. Players will assume the persona of an auditing newbie on probation who has been assigned to conduct auditing at ABC Pte Ltd. They can be promoted to Junior Auditor, Staff Auditor, Senior Auditor, Audit Manager or Audit Director as the game progresses, depending on the number of points they accumulate. Points are awarded according to the number of questions they get right. The idea is to help students understand the importance of having internal controls in an organisation, which act as a first line of defence against fraud. By having these controls in place, financial information is likely to be more accurate and reliable. They will also help ensure the firm’s compliance with financial and operational requirements. However, fraudsters will seek a way to defraud an organisation no matter how stringent its internal controls may be. The game illustrates this by presenting various scenarios of potential infringements of these controls. The lapses it highlights also show that internal controls become ineffective when there is collusion, or when management overrides them. When internal controls fail, either fraud is committed or errors go undetected. Players learn from this too as their inaccurate submissions will generate red flags, and they will be told where they went wrong. This will reinforce the idea that red flags should be taken seriously, especially in the field of auditing.
