Fraud experts and security professionals are on to you! We know why you steal……we know how you do it. The tricky part seems to be WHEN and exactly WHO is going to commit the fraud. This is an excellent article from Human Resource Executive Online. I was actually surprised to see it here rather than my favorite security publication Security Management. In it the author explores several ways an employee can (and will) steal from you when given the chance. More importantly, there is a strong emphasis on background checks towards the end. I don’t have to remind you, our economy is not too good. Employees are in fear of losing their jobs and don’t know how they are going to put food on the table. Mitigating your risk is more important now then it ever was. One small incident can put you out of business. One small incident that could have been easily prevented will be very embarrassing. There are many ways to prevent fraud! One should always remember; Opportunity Only Knocks Once, But Temptation Leans On The Doorbell!
The Criminal in the Next Cubicle
The recession can put pressure on employees to steal, and employee theft and fraud typically increases in tough times. Tip lines, prudent procedures — and forced vacations — may be just the answer.
By Cyril Tuohy, Risk & Insurance®
The fraud starts off small, in the form of a micro loan, just a couple of hundred dollars perhaps, to be repaid a few weeks later, interest free. The intent, of course, is to reimburse the employer, in this case the unwitting “lender.”
But before long, the perpetrator is in too deep, and the temptation to steal yet more money is just too strong. And the employer finds itself with a criminal working inside one of its cubicles.
“They take just enough to help them though a financial crisis, and when the money is spent, they do it again, double dip, triple dip,” says Greg Bangs, vice president and crime manager with Chubb & Son, based in Warren, N.J.
Then criminals snap and “go big” as the scale of their fraud increases. In one recent case, a $4 million electronic-funds transfer was routed through four countries on three continents within 48 hours, he says.
