Larry Benson, co-author of WTF? Where’s the Fraud? How to Unmask and Stop Identity Fraud’s Drain on Our Government, made a special trip to Cornell on Oct. 26 to offer a guest lecture in CIPA Executive Director Thomas O’Toole’s PADM 5110—Public Administration course. Following his presentation, Benson shared complementary copies of his book with interested students.

“Fraud and corruption control is a pressing, global issue affecting all sectors,” says O’Toole. He envisions content on this subject becoming more and more integrated into the CIPA curriculum as the tools for combating the problem become more advanced. 

Benson’s lecture was based on the subject-matter of his book—how identity fraud has grown to epidemic-proportions in the U.S., and the devastating cost of this multi-billion dollar industry.

Benson is the Director of Strategic Alliances for Revenue Discovery and Recovery at LexisNexis Risk Solutions. In writing Where’s the Fraud, he and his co-author Andy Buchol, marshalled their experiences at LexisNexis Risk Solutions as researchers and developers of solutions for identity theft and fraud.

“My students were very positive about Mr. Benson’s presentation,” said O’Toole. “Experiences like this, where they can engage with cutting-edge practitioners in a small classroom setting, are invaluable.”

Benson has more than 30 years of experience in sales and business development. Before joining LexisNexis Risk Solutions, he spent 12 years founding and managing two software technology startups. One focused in the network management vertical, and the second in the data collection and analytics vertical. During this time, he held various positions such as CEO, VP of Sales, VP of Business Development, and VP of Marketing.

A sought-after speaker and accomplished writer, Benson is the principal author of “Fraud of the Day,” a website dedicated to educating government officials about how criminals are defrauding government programs.