Controlling the Human Element of Fraud Awareness

Responsibility for fraud awareness and implementing educational programmes for and organisation will lie with the board of directors and senior management however successful fraud prevention policies will only be successful if all the organisation are including in the fraud prevention strategy.

To implement a successful strategy those at the top of the hierarchy will need to take ownership of the policy but will also have to win over the support down through every level in the organisation. Everyone in the organisation will need to understand the internal and external risks that are there for the policy to be implemented successfully. However there must be a balance between training employees up with fraud education so they can assist the organisation prevent fraud and awareness of the risk of providing staff with the knowledge to commit criminal acts themselves.

Other actions that should be carried out include:

1. Distributing policies and procedures to every employee and department so they are highly visible at all times.
2. Educating the workforce to the fraud risks that are present with ongoing training to keep up to date with new fraud techniques. Both general fraud prevention education and department and business functions fraud should be given to affected departments such as finance, personnel and sales departments.
3. Responsibility given to employees to prevent fraud
4. Employees should sign agreements forms and codes of conduct should be introduced to avoid disputes later
5. Stringent controls should be in place to reduce chance of employees carrying out fraud

Handling Fraud Reporting

When fraud occurs organisations need have policies in place that encourage employees to report any suspicious activity or suspected incidents without fear of punishment. Often fraud happens but is never reported as employees don't want to inform against colleagues or are prevented by a culture of silence. Those that hold information needs to be assured that they will be protected when they come forward with potential fraud information.

Fraud is sadly growing and businesses are struggling to prevent and reduce fraud. There are many fraud based conferences that are organised throughout the world, Marcus Evans scam conferences are organised regularly. Attend the next one to help protect your business.