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.
A national policy leader with over 20 years of experience, Dr. Keita M. Franklin is the Chief Clinical Officer at Loyal Source Government Services– the nation’s leading healthcare solutions provider – and has consulted with many entities on issues related to workplace wellness. Prior to joining the Loyal Source team, Dr. Franklin was a senior executive at both the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD), frequently representing the DoD and the VA during testimony in front of both chambers of Congress and advising the Office of the President, the Domestic Policy Council, and the National Security Council. During her tenure, Dr. Franklin led enterprise-wide programming for Veterans, military service members and their families.
Serving Loyal Source since inception, Brian Moore is a recognized creative solutions and results-oriented leader. Overseeing operations, and all Loyal Source Government Services business development efforts, Moore is responsible for the company’s strategic marketing and outreach programs, expertly designed to infiltrate and develop new government service venture opportunities for the business worldwide. Managing the company’s largest national and international client agency accounts, Moore’s decade of commercial and government business acumen has been integral to the development of the Loyal Source name, today known worldwide for developing innovative and market-variable human capital solutions on a global scale.
Linda Killinger was vice chair of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and a partner in an international accounting firm.
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.
