Fraud is continuing to increase this year, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
The report found that 79 percent of anti-fraud professionals have seen an increase in the overall level of fraud as of November, compared to 77 percent in August and 68 percent in May. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents said in November the increase has been significant, compared to 34 percent in August and 25 percent in May.
Pierre E. Debbas is managing partner of Romer Debbas.
Adam Vander Weerdt is agribusiness region leader, for Westfield Insurance.
Jennifer Lee is the President and Co-CEO of Intradiem, a company transforming customer service operations through dynamic workforce orchestration and people-first innovation.
Jennifer's career began on the frontlines of the contact center, where she learned firsthand the challenges and potential of customer service work. Over two decades later, she now leads a company she once supported from the inside, proof that empathy and accountability can coexist at scale. Jennifer joined Intradiem in 2015 as Director of Customer Success. Since then, she has held positions as Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Operating Officer and President, before assuming her current role as Co-CEO.
A passionate advocate for human-centric leadership, Jennifer believes that technology should empower, not replace, people. Under her guidance, Intradiem has grown into a market leader known for combining operational excellence with a deeply human culture—one that values wellbeing, learning, and bold curiosity as much as results.
Recognized for her "frontline to CEO" journey, Jennifer frequently speaks about the future of work, leadership in the age of AI, and building resilient organizations rooted in purpose and compassion. She is driven by a simple belief: when you invest in people, performance follows.
Cyber fraud, payment fraud (such as schemes with debit and credit cards) and identity theft are the three top fraud schemes seeing increases, according to anti-fraud professionals.
The largest increase in observed fraud was in financial statement fraud, with 7 percent more anti-fraud professionals reported seeing financial statement fraud in November, compared to August. That could be because as companies continue to see their profits drop, they feel more pressure to cook the books.
The survey also found 77 percent of anti-fraud professionals report that investigating and preventing fraud is more challenging now, while 71 percent said detecting fraud is more challenging as a result of the pandemic.
ACFE members anticipate the fraud trend will continue, even as vaccines have begun rolling out this week in the U.S. Ninety percent of the survey respondents expect a further increase in the level of fraud over the next 12 months, with 44 percent predicting the change is likely to be significant.
Nearly half (48 percent) of the organizations polled expect to increase their investments in anti-fraud technology, and 38 percent intend to raise the use of fraud-related consultants or other external resources. Budgets for anti-fraud training and professional development are experiencing a similar increase (according to 37 percent of the organizations polled), but nearly one-quarter (24 percent) anticipate a decrease in this area. The budget component most likely to see decreases is travel for anti-fraud staff, which shouldn’t be surprising given the plunging levels of air travel in general over this past year, with 38 percent of the survey respondents expecting a reduction in funds for travel in the year ahead.
