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.
Zoe Sagalow covers tax and retirement issues for Financial Planning, bringing a decade of experience in financial policy and regulatory reporting to coverage that keeps advisors current on the rules shaping client strategy.
Before joining Financial Planning, Zoe's policy reporting spanned banking at S&P Global Market Intelligence, insurance at CQ Roll Call, and tax at Tax Notes Today. In 2025, she and her team at S&P Global won a Regional Bronze Award from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for Online Industry News Coverage.
As a Capital News Service reporter, Zoe was part of a team investigating nursing home discharge practices in Maryland; their series, "Discharging Trouble," was an IRE Award finalist and won two first-place MDDC Press Association awards. The investigation prompted a lawsuit from the Maryland Attorney General against the nursing home operator that ultimately led to a $2.2 million settlement and barred the company from operating nursing facilities in the state.
Zoe holds a Bachelor of Science in business and a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Based in the Washington, D.C., area, she spends her off hours backyard birdwatching and teaching herself piano.
Connect with Zoe on LinkedIn or reach her at zoe.sagalow@financial-planning.com.
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.
