Insider fraud concerns rise among financial decision makers
Concerns over financial fraud, particularly among business insiders have increased dramatically during the past 12 months.
New research from Bottomline Technologies reveals a 138% relative year-on-year increase in concerns over insider fraud among financial decision makers.
The UK Business Barometer: Payments for a new economy report shows that fraud and financial management remain key concerns for small businesses.
More than 30% of financial decision makers expressed concerns over internal fraud, compared to 13% in 2016.
It wasn’t just insider fraud that was highlighted in the report though, as concerns were also expressed over external fraud, such as cyber fraud.
Worry over this sort of fraud has jumped from 37% a year ago to 56%, as small businesses react to a rising number of security threats.
Of the decision makers affected by fraud, 17% estimated that 10% or more of their company’s revenue was affected – down from 36% in 2016.
However, the number of businesses experiencing smaller fraud cases rose – 68% of those surveyed said that up to 10% of their revenue was hit, a jump from 40% who said likewise one year ago.
Perhaps of most concern, is that 56% of financial decision makers did not know if they had been hit by financial fraud or not.
The research claims that firms need to ensure they have measures in place to prevent errors and fraud from impacting upon their finances.
Forensic accounting services can help to identify fraudulent activity, and can assist in the tracing and recovering of assets from such activity.
This can help to reduce the risk of a business facing administration or being forced into liquidation if all other alternatives are exhausted.
Validating accounts and requiring verification are among the ways that fraudulent activity can be tackled, as they can both help to identify instances of fraud faster.
The report warms of complacency among small businesses and reminds firms that they have a duty of care to both their customers and suppliers to ensure payments are protected.
By Phil Smith