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.
Richard Johnson is CEO and co-founder of Texture Capital.
Jed Danbury is a vice president at Computop.
Ellen is a principal analyst serving financial services technology decision makers in roles such as CIOs and enterprise architects in the insurance and wealth, investment, and asset management industries. Her research focuses on the technology decisions that financial services firms are investing in, including core platforms modernization and replacement and the integration of emerging technologies with legacy systems to drive better digital experiences and improved operational efficiency.
Previous Work Experience
Prior to her current research coverage, Ellen spent eight years providing strategic analysis and advice to Forrester’s insurance digital business strategy clients, focusing on eBusiness strategies and best practices in digital and customer experience as well as adoption trends for property and casualty, life, group, and health insurers.
Ellen brings 30 years of experience in delivering technical and professional services to clients in a variety of industries and markets. She joined Forrester from the former ThruPoint, a New York-based professional services firm, where she was a principal consultant focusing on IT service business strategy to Global 100 clients in securities, banking, and insurance; telecommunications; and media and entertainment. Before joining ThruPoint, Ellen was a director and principal analyst for Gartner, following the infrastructure services market, including consulting, support, and managed services.
Ellen has presented on vertical-industry and role-based marketing in a variety of Forrester and client events. She has been cited in Forbes, Fortune, the New York Times, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, Best’s Review, Carrier Management, Rough Notes, Digital Insurance, New Scientist, and American Banker.
Education
Ellen received a B.S. in economics from Southern New Hampshire University.
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.
