One of the most common types of theft occurs internally, in the form of workplace fraud. Workplace fraud often occurs when employees become disengaged, greedy, or just plain disgruntled. Employees who commit fraud may be able to conceal their crimes for some time because they hide in plain sight. In many cases, the employees themselves are tasked with protecting the sensitive data and systems they abuse.
There are many ways employees can defraud and damage a company from the inside. The most common type of fraud occurs when employees adjust company accounts or orders from business resources to themselves. Sometimes employees change payroll reports to get paid for work they didn't do, which represents a host of FLSA issues in addition to outright time theft. Expense report fraud is very common, as are counterfeit payments to vendors. Some employees simply misappropriate company property. Another form of fraud is corruption, in which employees may try to manipulate vendors to gain advantages in exchange for special treatment or payments.
Fortunately, all of these types of fraud are easily discoverable. The accompanying infographic from Column Case Investigative includes more details about common forms of fraud and some of the steps employers can take to combat them.
Guest Blogger Katherine Palac is the Director of Marketing at Column Case Investigative. Palac has focused on global B2B marketing and communications strategy for 20 years primarily in the professional services, financial services, and technology spaces.