Occupational fraud is a huge drain on organizations’ resources, costing an estimated global loss of $3.7 trillion dollars annually. And according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner’s (ACFE) 2014 study, just 14% of defrauded organizations are able to fully recover their losses.

Fraud is a very real threat to the bottom line of almost every organization in our economy. But it can be prevented, or at least mitigated.

There are 3 steps in setting up a fraud prevention program in your organization:

1. Understand what fraud is and how it is likely to emerge.
2. Identify potential sources of fraud in your organizations.
3. Take steps to prevent fraud through processes or controls.

Ultimately, a healthy anti-fraud corporate culture that permeates from the top down will make your organization more crime resistant. This will take time to nurture, and it will take continuous effort to sustain, but in the end you can make occupational fraud an extinct disease in your workplace.

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You’ve seen the data before: Organizational fraud is a huge annual cost. Managers want to reduce the costs, so the real questions are to learn why fraud occurs and what to do about it.

The most compelling explanation for organizational fraud is the Fraud Triangle, as summarized in our recent infographic. Frauds occur when there is opportunity, one or more employees are under perceived financial pressure (incentives exist), and they can rationalize their fraudulent behavior. These 3 factors correspond to the legs of the triangle.

Control the Opportunities to Reduce the Chances of Fraud

In our experience, organizations can reduce the probability of organizational fraud by just removing one of those legs of the triangle. There are things you can’t control, such as employees’ spending habits, but if you remove the opportunity for employees to get their hands on an asset without the potential of getting caught, then you’ve reduced that probability by 50 percent. … Continue reading