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Best Practices

A Primer on Payment Fraud in 2013

Mitigating risk requires adoption of best practices, both in managing paper checks and in confronting digital threats.

By Linda Coven | Updated on June 18, 2013
Payment fraud is one of the biggest risk management challenges facing corporate treasury managers, and it’s one that businesses must battle on two fronts. Although media attention tends to focus on the emergence of technically sophisticated online banking scams, criminals continue to target paper checks for fraud. Both crimes should be front and center on a treasurer’s radar.

According to the “2013 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey” conducted by the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), 61 percent of organizations experienced attempted or actual payment fraud in 2012. Checks continued to be the dominant payment form targeted by fraudsters, with 87 percent of affected organizations reporting check fraud attempts. Check fraud has been around for a long time, but in recent years criminals have become more proficient at it. The advent of inexpensive desktop publishing equipment has enabled them to create incredibly authentic-looking counterfeit checks. In its most common form, counterfeiting involves creation of fraudulent checks using an organization’s MICR-line data. Criminals also commonly alter the amount or payee name on checks that have actually been issued, or they steal or counterfeit employee paychecks.

Meanwhile, a much smaller proportion of respondents to the AFP survey said they faced attempts at commercial purchasing card fraud (29 percent), Automated Clearing House (ACH), debit fraud (27 percent), or wire transfer fraud (11 percent), although the potential losses are greater via these electronic methods. The typical financial loss among companies that suffered payment fraud in 2012 was $20,300, according to the AFP.

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