{"id":9442,"date":"2020-11-09T09:02:34","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T09:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crigroup.com\/?p=9442"},"modified":"2022-03-23T07:16:27","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T07:16:27","slug":"fraud-during-covid19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crigroup.com\/ar\/fraud-during-covid19\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraud in a wake of COVID-19 pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 continues to affect businesses in a myriad of ways. Organisations are having to adapt quickly to the fast-changing climate of the pandemic, and unfortunately, we’ve recently noticed some business practices of cutting steps in a few internal processes, such as hiring, or lack of risk management controls. It’s the vulnerable time for organisations – earlier we wrote that\u00a0a crisis can bring out the worst in some people<\/a>. Fraudsters who prey on people\u2019s fear and confusion tend to waste no time when a global disaster strikes. COVID-19 is relatively new and still spreading, yet fraud schemes are multiplying much like the virus itself as criminals look for vulnerabilities among a fearful population. This pandemic also creates risks for employee fraud – CRI\u00ae<\/span> Group’s survey<\/a> revealed that nearly 77 per cent of HR professionals accept that there is a risk that employees can initiate fraudulent activity because of the work-from-home arrangement.<\/p>\n

But employee fraud is not the only risk the business world faces today. Earlier this year, we published that some organisations commit fraud themselves and abuse the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme by engaging in furlough fraud<\/a>. They do this by accepting taxpayer money designed to help them pay salaries for furloughed workers, who are essentially \u201cdeactivated\u201d to due to loss of business and quarantine \u2013 yet they pressure them to work (or they accept furlough benefits without the employees\u2019 knowledge).<\/p>\n

Supporting the fight against fraud<\/h3>\n

But there’s some good news. Proactive organisations are taking steps to fight fraud and highlight the consequences of committing fraud during these times. The International Fraud Awareness Week<\/a> this November provides a spotlight on fraud and encourages businesses to introduce and\/or improve internal and external anti-fraud activities to help promote transparency and honesty among their employees and company’s business relations. More and more companies every year join Fraud Week as official supporters<\/a>\u00a0and implement fraud-preventing initiatives. Learn more about what can you do too<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A few months ago,\u00a0Fraud Advisory Panel has set up a COVID-19 fraud watch group<\/a> – a\u00a0cross-sector and a cross-industry coalition of trusted partners<\/a> (including the Cabinet Office and the City of London Police) who meet weekly to share information on emerging fraud threats and trends affecting business. The panel aims to act as a conduit to warn the public, private and third sectors about COVID-19 fraud risks.<\/p>\n

ACFE, a leading Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, is also actively contributing to anti-fraud society during these unprecedented times<\/a>: “To illuminate the global pandemic\u2019s impact on the fight against fraud, the ACFE is undertaking a series of benchmarking surveys exploring how fraud risks and anti-fraud programs are changing in the current environment. The September 2020 edition of the\u00a0Fraud in the Wake of COVID-19: Benchmarking Report<\/strong> summarizes the results of the second of these surveys, which was conducted from late-July to mid-August 2020″.<\/p>\n

Recently, the second edition of this study was launched, which indicates that the level of fraud has increased since May 2020 and is expected to continue rising. The following points were uncovered by ACFE<\/a>:<\/p>\n