Sue is a customer account representative for ABC Company. She recently acquired several new accounts when a previous representative, Dan, took an early retirement. Sue reviewed each of Dan’s accounts to help familiarize herself with his clients and understand how she can better serve each one’s individual needs. As she was reviewing the client list, she found a major customer she had never heard of before. Surprised that she had not yet done business with the company, she called it to introduce herself as the new representative. When Sue placed the call, she found that the reported number had been disconnected. Thinking that the customer may have done business with ABC in the past and have moved on, she reviewed the account transactions and found that the most recent transaction had taken place the week prior. During her review, she also noticed the latest transaction was for an unusually large amount for ABC.
As Sue pursued her curiosity, she went to other employees to find out more about the company. In her questioning, she found that none of the employees had ever heard of the customer. Once she had run out of other avenues, Sue decided to contact the controller to find out if he could provide any additional information. When Sue opened the company directory, she was amazed when she recognized his home address: it was the same address as the mystery customer!
1. What are some of the possible scenarios for why the addresses match?
2. What other symptoms would be present in each of the scenarios you identified in part (1)?
3. What are the implications of the address match if the company is private? If the company was publicly traded?
4. Assuming the company was preparing for an IPO, who should Sue contact, and what should she say?
5. If Sue believes these revenues are fictitious, what should her next course of action be?