One of the most common routes for occupational fraud perpetrators runs through the accounts receivable department. Unless you are aware of these schemes and take steps to prevent them, your business could face serious financial losses. Creative Misappropriation Receivables fraud occurs when dishonest employees divert customer payments...
If you have an estate plan and also have creditors, you could be a fraud perpetrator — without knowing it or intending to defraud anyone. In some circumstances, creditors can challenge gifts, trusts, and other strategies for leaving assets to heirs as fraudulent transfers. Here...
You may have the best internal controls in the business world, but if your employees do not follow them, your company is at serious risk for fraud. The same is true if workers are not aware of your company’s risks and cannot recognize red flags....
Many startup companies require access to large sums of investment capital to take on well-established competitors. The need to raise such funding may encourage a startup’s founder to paint an overly optimistic picture of the business and exaggerate its ability to succeed. In some extreme...
Over the past year, most businesses have been forced to contend with multiple crises, including COVID-19, social unrest, and financial challenges. The last thing you need right now is a fraud incident, but if your company is defrauded, you can help mitigate the damage with...
Whew, you made it through 2020! But do not rest easy yet. Unfortunately, fraud perpetrators enjoyed a profitable year, and there are signs they may continue to feed off Americans as long as the pandemic is active. Here are several scams to watch for in...
In one recent cybercrime scheme, a mortgage company employee accessed his employer’s records without authorization, then used stolen customer lists to start his own mortgage business. The perpetrator hacked the protected records by sending an email containing malware to a coworker. This particular dishonest worker was...
If you have caught an employee stealing from your company, you may think that turning the person over to the police will result in prosecution. That is not necessarily true. Law enforcement officials pursue and reject cases for many reasons. So, if you are determined...
For most retailers, this is the most profitable season of the year. However, customer returns in January can cut deeply into December revenues — particularly if the returns are fraudulent. U.S. retailers suffer annual losses of $18.4 billion from fraudulent returns, according to data analytics...
Despite our best intentions, almost everyone brings some bias to human interactions — even business owners and executives investigating fraud. Sometimes bias can lead to the right conclusion. However, bias also can compromise an investigation’s integrity. If you suspect fraud in your organization and decide...