Fraud is a major problem in modern-day businesses. It significantly hampers the progression of business and leads to loss of revenue. Most fraud take places through advanced technology platforms such as hacking. According to PriceWaterhouseCoopers’ evaluation reports, over half of all businesses today have in one way or another suffered fraud. In particular, 88 percent of companies within the United States have suffered fraud that led to subsequent declines in financial performance. This shows the detrimental effects of fraud.

The process of preventing fraud from a business should always start with evaluating a company’s internal and external operations. Depending on where it is orchestrated from, fraud can be divided into internal or external fraud. Internal fraud occurs in numerous forms. The primary forms of internal fraud in most companies are the deeds and misdeeds of employees, which can be handled in various ways.

Implementation of employee monitoring systems

Monitoring of employees is the most efficient mechanism of prevention of internal fraudulent activity. These monitoring systems can include automated systems that record the time which the employee reports to and leave from work. This would prevent the employees from defrauding the company valuable time such as when they report for work late and/or leave early. Installation of cameras within the offices would also be a great way of ensuring that the employees are accountable while at work. It would deter employees from misusing their time .

Auditing

Auditing is perhaps the most important element of fraud detection and prevention. Audits conducted on a case-by-case basis play a major role in ensuring that any fraudulent activity is detected and prevented. Auditing involves evaluation of systems within the company, such as checking of the transaction records in the bid to determine the flow of cash from one account to another. Inventory checking is also (Read more...)