How to Detect Fraud in a Company – 2024 Guide

To know if a company commits fraud, we must first understand what is fraud? Fraud is a crime, an economic crime that is intended to make a profit, harming another person or entity, it is an abuse, since it is planned in advance, it means that it is a deception carried out with the aim of filling pockets, fraud occurs by any means, it is not defined and can attack any social status.

It is of utmost importance to have at the organization level implement mechanisms that allow detecting fraud in a company.

Within a company, a fraud is the diversion of funds, it can be through the hiring or subcontracting of shell companies, intentional transfers or through the theft of information, whether simple or confidential. In any case, when fraud is detected in a company, measures must be implemented to eradicate it completely.

Companies have made efforts to try to improve security measures against fraud, however as measures increase, the ingenuity of fraudsters increases, new attack trends every day, the risk that a company runs of being scammed, represents a fairly high level and the tools to detect fraud in a company are still difficult to find.

Therefore, detecting fraud in a company is not an easy task, since the scam may come from an employee who is stealing money from the company, or merchandise, or duplicating trademarks, patents, resources, there may be a degree of suspicion but it is not enough to ensure that it is that way and in case it is so, you must act immediately.

How to Detect Fraud in a Company?

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There are some symptoms within a company, which generate doubts and make one suspect about fraud, and from this, measures are taken, below we will indicate some of the ways in which fraud can be detected in a company:

  • Unexcused missing.
  • Presence of a person outside working hours.
  • Forms of life in employees that do not go according to wages.
  • The sale of information, marketing studies or databases.
  • Counterfeiting of brands and products.
  • Bribes.
  • Theft of supplies, materials and documentation.
  • Illegitimate use of company funds.
  • Manipulation of accounting, to conceal errors.

These cases can be carried out by internal or external agents or a combination of both, since the objective is to benefit financially from these illegal acts.

Faced with this type of dubious activity, an attitude towards fraud is generated, it seems almost evident that, in some areas, fraudulent behavior is openly tolerated, because adequate control is not established in companies, and they rely on some already obsolete factors, Companies fail to understand risks, often deny the possibility of risks, do not invest in fraud prevention tools, and above all consider that internal or external auditors have detected fraud.

Fraud Detection:

When fraud is detected in a company, the objective is to create job security in the company, on the other hand it is investigated to be able to recover funds.

The Rules to Follow are Important for its Detection:

  • Give importance to what is evident.
  • Detecting fraud in a company is a complex task.
  • Concentrate on the simplest and weakest of the act committed.
  • If a specific person is suspected, they most likely are.

Recommendations for Safer Mobile Payments

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Just as you protect your traditional wallet to protect your money and cards, in the event that you configure your virtual wallet you must protect your mobile so that no one but you can access said wallet and no payments are made without your consent. For this reason, we must strengthen the security of our smartphone:

Tips

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  1. You must configure the application correctly, that is, you must pay attention to the instructions and enter the required data without skipping any step. This will prevent errors in the process and that you have to repeat it.
  2. It establishes a double factor of authentication to access the digital wallet and perform actions with the application such as payments or transfers.
  3. Set a lock on the mobile phone, thus preventing other people from accessing without your knowledge.
  4. Another additional safety factor is the activation of SMS notifications. In this way you can control the use made of the card and detect if there is any movement that you have not made.
  5. Use the services «Find my device» on Android and «Find my iPhone» on Apple iOS, so that in case of theft or loss of the mobile you can erase the data of the cards that you have included in the digital wallets, as well as other information personnel you have stored.
  6. Finally, configure your digital wallet so that when making payments or transfers, it requests permission to activate the NFC, in the case of Android. On iOS, this option is currently not available to the user, since Apple Pay is the only application available to use NFC.
  7. Install the original applications and download them only from official Google Pay stores and App Store.
  8. Keep your device and the applications you have installed updated. In addition, it is convenient that you have an antivirus and carry out periodic analyzes in search of malware.
  9. Use strong and secure passwords for applications that have access to financial data, and do not reuse them in other services.
  10. Establish a minimum amount, from which it is necessary to enter the PIN code, in this way you will avoid that charges can be made without your knowledge.
  11. Never provide the credentials (identifier and PIN code) of your bank accounts.
  12. Whenever possible, establish double factor authentication in the applications you use to make payments or transfers.
  13. Be careful with mobile phishing, paying attention to the SMS and messages from social networks or emails that you receive, even from known contacts or sources. Avoiding clicking on the links included in them.
  14. Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks when carrying out operations with sensitive information, such as transfers or payments with your mobile.
  15. In case of being a victim of fraud or theft, report immediately to the Cybercrime Brigade and contact your bank

Detection Techniques

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Beyond detecting fraud in a company, techniques have been formulated for its prevention, there are various ways, however we aim at technology, which is part of business intelligence, from this perspective it is about ensuring more effectively prevent the risk of fraud.

These tools for the prevention of internal fraud, are programmed and designed to detect, allow the automation of tasks, and make your work more effective, in such a way that they are parameterizable and adapt to company rules.