Fraud prevention: a step-by-step guide to avoiding scams in your company

[shukla7789]

74% of Brazilian companies have already suffered some type of scam , and 50% have been victims of economic crimes in the last 2 years.

These worrying figures are the result of research carried out by Kroll and PwC. The latter also found that investment in combating fraud grew by 52% across the country .

There is a justification for this increase: entrepreneurs are feeling the impact of the damage caused in their pockets. For 66% of Brazilian entrepreneurs, losses amounted to up to US$1 million between 2016 and 2018.

In addition to direct financial losses, there are also indirect losses, i.e. costs with investigations and interventions. In this case, 31% of institutions spent up to twice as much as they lost due to crime.

The saying “ prevention is the best medicine ” fits student database in this context. Risk management combined with fraud prevention can literally save a company .



What types of fraud can occur?


Understanding what types of crimes can affect a company is the first step in developing a fraud prevention strategy.



The main blows suffered by institutions are:



Theft: when an individual acts in disguise and takes something that is not theirs;
Robbery: when physical or moral violence is used to appropriate something improperly;
Misappropriation: when someone in a position of trust takes possession of something without the company's consent.
Sabotage: here the objective is only to harm the institution, and not to acquire something for oneself.
Voluntary waste: everything in a company must be used consciously and economically. Thus, this fraud is characterized by the waste of food, water, energy and raw materials.
Misappropriation of funds: when public funds are used for private purposes. This can be money or any other material item.
Tax evasion : to evade is to hide or omit something, therefore, when a company evades taxes it is hiding information from the Government about income or economic activity carried out.


Where do they occur?


The frauds listed above usually affect:



Documents, Credit Titles, Checks;
Goods for use (movable and immovable);
Raw materials, miscellaneous materials, products in production, goods;
Balance sheets, trial balances and other accounting statements;
Accounts and subaccounts of any degree;
Accounting records;
Bulletins, reports, control sheets;
Financial statements at the end of the fiscal year;
Internal and external account statements;
Declarations, certificates, certifications;
Contracts, terminations and contractual changes;
Correspondence;
Guides for paying taxes and other contributions;
Tax documents;
Other documents related to the company's life (policies, certificates, records)


How to detect fraud?


Fraud is an action or omission committed, intentionally, by someone with the intention of harming the company and benefiting themselves.