Fraud Examination Studies

The evidence regarding the existence of fraud in the workplace is compelling:

• U.S. organizations lose 7% of their annual revenues to fraud. Applied to the projected 2008 United States Gross Domestic Product, this translates to approximately $994 billion in fraud losses.
• More than one-quarter of occupational frauds involved losses of at least $1 million.
• Occupational fraud schemes frequently continue for years before they are detected.
• The most common fraud schemes were corruption (27%), and fraudulent billing schemes (24%).
• Lack of adequate internal controls was most commonly cited as the factor that allowed fraud to occur.
• Implementation of anti-fraud controls has a measurable impact on an organization’s exposure to fraud.
• Small businesses are especially vulnerable to occupational fraud. Check tampering and fraudulent billing are the most common small business fraud schemes.
• Occupational fraudsters are generally first time offenders. li>

Every business should have a formal plan in place to combat fraud. In developing this plan, the professionals at Gumbiner Savett work with business owners to implement controls to detect and deter fraud within their businesses.

Source: 2008 Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ Report to the Nation On Occupational Fraud and Abuse.