November 15-21 is International Fraud Awareness Week

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International Fraud Awareness Week

Fraud Week is the perfect time to assess your company’s fraud awareness and to start discussions amongst colleagues, executives and stakeholders in your organization about how important fraud prevention is to your company and to society as a whole.

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) in their 2020 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse; Organizations lose an estimated 5 percent of their annual revenues to fraud, equating to a projected $4.5 trillion globally.  Although fraud takes many various forms, including corporate fraud, consumer fraud, tax fraud, identity theft and many others. The most common form of fraud is asset misappropriation. Test your knowledge regarding fraudulent activity here.

5 fraud tips that your organization can take now to reduce your vulnerability to fraud:
  1. Be Proactive – Adopt a code of ethics for management and employees. Evaluate your internal controls for effectiveness and identify areas of the business that are vulnerable to fraud.
  2. Establish Hiring Procedures – When hiring, it is recommended to conduct thorough background investigations. Check educational, credit and employment history (as permitted by law), as well as references.
  3. Train Employees in Fraud Prevention – Do workers know the warning signs of fraud? Ensure that staff members know basic fraud prevention techniques.
  4. Increase the Perception of Detection – Communicate regularly to staff about anti-fraud policies, ways to report suspicions of misconduct, and the potential consequences (including termination and prosecution) of fraudulent behavior.
  5. Implement a Fraud Hotline  Fraud is still most likely to be detected by a tip. Providing an anonymous reporting system for your employees, contractors and clients will help discourage and uncover fraud more quickly than organizations without a reporting system in place.

Implementing these tips could reduce the likelihood that your organization becomes a victim of fraud. Better to be proactive than reactive.

Working with a managed IT provider can enable your company to implement a comprehensive asset management program for all of your computing assets. We can help you prepare against computer fraud with our Security & Awareness Training and Dark Web Monitoring Services. If you want to talk more about how you can put fraud prevention solutions in place for your workers or if you have additional questions, give us a call at 952.279.2424. SOL-I.S. Technology Solutions – we’re here for you!

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