Meet Dora Gomez, Fraud Examiner and Alumni Chapter Lead

Dora Gomez ’18 walked the cozy, private dining room of Seasons 52 in Paramus, New Jersey greeting fellow NJIT alumni and swapping stories like she has done it dozens of times before. In truth, this was her first time helping to organize an NJIT alumni event as the new volunteer organizer for the northern New Jersey chapter.

With over 25 years of experience in fraud risk management in the financial world, Dora is currently with Ernst & Young’s Financial Crimes Technology Consulting team helping financial organizations strengthen their controls in preventing technology-based crimes (e.g., bank accounts opened with stolen or synthetically-created identification).

Dora earned her M.S. in Business and Information Systems from NJIT and has a bachelor’s in accounting from Pace University. She sat down with NJIT to discuss details of her work in FinCrime, her experience on professional boards and how NJIT has influenced her career.

Can you describe your work in financial fraud?

One of the things we have seen is a heightened risk in application fraud. Meaning people opening fake applications using synthetic identities. Synthetic identities basically take your personal information, like your social security number and create a new person. We are seeing an increase in cases in vulnerable persons like children and the elder community.

If a criminal gets their hands on a child’s social security number, that child may not know until he runs his first credit report, or applies for a job, but will then realize they are in an incredible amount of debt because someone has used their identity. That’s a very dangerous part that people are unaware of.

A lot of my most passionate work is on addressing elder fraud. Incidents are growing rapidly, especially during COVID as many elderly people were prisoners in their own homes and vulnerable to being taken advantage of through social engineering — creative and unique ways to get their personal information through social contact. It’s estimated that elder financial fraud results in over $36 billion of losses per year, which is probably underestimated as most incidents are not reported. The complexity and lengths people will go to manipulate somebody is shocking, and so wrong! I would love to help more people in this area.

How has your master's from NJIT expanded your skill set in your profession?

I always wanted to obtain a masters but I never had the time. So, I decided to take some time off in between jobs to invest in myself and further advance my career impact and future. I decided to get involved on the technology side because, to me, IT underlies every important part of business and society. It is also a rapidly changing area with increased focus from corporate boards and regulators. Understanding technology better can help anyone’s career, in my opinion. I looked at NJIT’s program, and I was impressed with the professors, the student body and the vision promoted by the school’s leadership and compassion for its students.

Although most of my classes were virtually delivered, I always tried to meet the professors. Every semester I would come in a few times to meet my professors, get their personal insights and advice, and to build personal relationships. If something wasn’t working well for me, I could reach out to someone I trusted and knew. I felt like I needed that connection.

You are active on several boards, like the NY Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). What is your role there?

I am president and training director and work with the board in leading our chapter initiatives. I manage events, speakers, venues, and topics. The crux of our mission is to provide training and networking opportunities for fraud examiners, as well as to raise awareness regarding various types of fraud. I am very proud of our accomplishments and honored of our chapter awards received from the ACFE.

Besides the ACFE New York chapter, I am a board member of InfraGard, which partners with the FBI to provide education and information sharing for the nation’s critical security sectors. To join, you need to have some type of professional responsibility with security and be a U.S. citizen. Within InfraGard, we try to cover the 16 critical infrastructure sectors identified by the Department of Homeland Security. I am also the Audit Committee Chair for the High Tech Crimes Investigation Association (HTCIA) and past president of their NY Metro chapter.

You are president and director of multiple organizations, you just started volunteering as an alumni lead, and you helped fundraise for one of NJIT’s competitive engineering teams. What inspires you to give your time so generously?

My upbringing. I think coming from an immigrant family (I was the first one born here), we were driven to make ourselves “the best we could be.” When I was growing up, I didn't have a mentor as my exposure to professionals was very limited, so it was hard to get good advice and to build a good network. 

My advice was limited to my dad telling me to get a job where “you can be independent and build your own fortunes,” but that is somewhat nebulous to a 17-year-old.

I was lucky in some early decisions and majored in an area of study where I could achieve independence and success. So if I can provide career advice to somebody else, and lead them down the right path, it makes me feel I am giving back and more personally fulfilled. I am also driven and quite good at helping organizations succeed, and be the best that they can be! 

*This interview was edited for clarity*