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.
Annie Donovan was director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's CDFI Fund from 2014 to 2018. She is currently president and CEO of Raza Development Fund, a certified CDFI. Twitter: @ADonovanRDF.
Cody Dong leads MSCI's ESG and climate research for the insurance sector. He also sits on the committee that oversees MSCI ESG Ratings' methodology, quality and model integrity. Prior to joining MSCI, Cody was a strategy and business-development analyst at Alcoa. He also has experience as a sell-side analyst covering Chinese insurance and banking equities. Cody holds a bachelor's degree in business management from Ohio State University and a master's in finance from University of Cincinnati. He is a CFA® Charterholder and holds the designation of Financial Risk Manager (FRM).
Arne Philipp Klug is MSCI's biodiversity research director, overseeing thematic research on biodiversity and natural capital. He engages with investors and key stakeholders to help clients set and prioritize their investment objectives for biodiversity. Arne previously led MSCI'S ESG research on the transportation sector. Prior to joining MSCI, he worked as an ESG analyst and account manager at Sustainalytics in Frankfurt and Toronto. Arne holds a master's degree in communications science, political economics and Hispanic studies from the University of Münster in Germany.
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.
