Shining a Light on Payments Fraud

The profile of a typical offender is far from what you might expect. Perpetrators of occupational fraud are often model senior-level employees who have been with the company for a while and who may be committing their first offense ever. Different perpetrators obviously have different reasons for committing occupational fraud, but these crimes are often precipitated by a combination of financial pressures and a perception that the risk of getting caught is low. Offenders often rationalize their actions with excuses such as “The company won’t miss the money” or “I should be getting paid more.”

Occupational fraud and external fraud schemes, such as business email compromise (or “impostor fraud”), are both common and difficult to spot. Protecting a company against these risks requires well-designed policies and vigilance in enforcement of those policies.