Internal Auditors Skepticism in Detecting Fraud: A Quantitative Study

At the turn of the 21st century, several high profile financial scandals of big corporations (e.g., Enron, World Com, and others) elevated the public awareness of auditors' responsibilities for detecting and preventing fraud. These high profile scandals became the benchmark of auditors in detecting and preventing fraud. A quantitative online research survey was conducted to internal auditors that are members of social media. The significance of the research is to contribute to the theory that the lack of professional skepticism is the contributing factor to malpractice litigation against the auditors. The purpose of the research is to determine the reactions of the internal auditors when confronted by fraud symptoms in relation to the level of professional skepticism characteristics. In addition, the elevation of PS during performance evaluation, process in hiring, and decisions on promotion would help prevent future audit litigation.