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Could Crowdsourcing Help the SEC Detect Fraud?

Posted by Soulskill on from the sure-couldn't-hurt dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The SEC failed to catch Bernie Madoff largely because they are understaffed (a fact the SEC itself has admitted), under-funded, and simply lack the resources to adequately investigate his activities. Undoubtedly, there were other smaller incidents of fraud that have gone unpunished because of this deficiency. To solve this egregious issue, NERA Economic Consulting proposed crowdsourcing, the concept behind Wikipedia's existence. Proving financial fraud is essentially an exercise in finding numbers that do not match. Through crowdsourcing, regulators would make financial data publicly available to the masses, who would do the 'grunt work' of sifting through them to find discrepancies. But would it work?"

2 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. my life by lawnboy5-O · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I won't ask for forgiveness, my sins are all I have.

  2. FraudVille! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Sure, it would work. Let Zynga put it up on FaceBook as a mindless clickfest waste of time. People will flock to it.

    "Oh no! My '07 quarterly reports need watering!"