As we now know, Fraud has been around since long before there was money. In fact, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Investigators (ACFE) in their 2022 Report to the Nations1, the US and Canada experience 36% of all global fraud, the highest percentage of the eight global regions tracked. And the numbers are astronomical!
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates global fraud losses to surpass $4 Trillion!
The global labor force consists of more than 3.3 billion people2, a large majority of whom will never steal or abuse the trust of their employers. But if even a tiny percentage of these individuals cross the line, the result is millions of occupational fraud schemes being committed annually.
The research continues to report that organizations with fewer employees had the highest median loss ($150K).
Lots of US companies think they're safe from fraud because staff is "family," or the trusted financial advisor you hired to manage your books has "been with us forever." But, how about if it is a member of your executive management team? The study indicates that only 15% of faudsters display any behavioral red flags. The breakdown of perpetrators' financial damage to a company looks like this:
Owner/Executive average $337K
Manager average $125K
Employee average $50K
I'll continue to examine the numbers behind the numbers. They tell us the unwanted truth that fraud, schemes, and deception are going strong in the global economy. But it's not every man for himself! Forensic accountants can sift through the financial "noise" to find the truth.
Join me for my next blog, where I'll examine The Fraud Tree to show the Org Chart of Fraud so you can see where your company may be most vulnerable.
Until then, please reach out for your free consultation and we'll talk about your situation and how I will help you discover the fraud and the perpetrator and help you back onto the road to revenue recovery.
Let's Talk.
1 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. (2022). Occupational Fraud 2002: A Report to the Nations, https://legacy.acfe.com/report-to-the-nations/2022/?_ga=2.102330625.1031714480.1675682360-864566128.1675682360
2 The World Bank DataBank. (2022). Labor Force, Total (1990–2020),” https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.IN
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