Posted by SecExtra on November 07th, 2009

SAP security specialists Turnkey Consulting (www.turnkeyconsulting.com) has become an official supporter of International Fraud Awareness Week, which runs from 8 to 14 November 2009. The initiative comes during a time when intense financial pressures caused by the economic crisis have led to an increase of fraud, according to a survey of fraud experts conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), the world’s largest anti-fraud organisation.

Turnkey Consulting continues to encourage organisations to view the implementation of internal controls as both good business practice and a way to reduce the risk of employee fraud. It joins hundreds of organisations who have partnered with the ACFE in a commitment to proactively fight fraud and help safeguard business and investments from this growing problem.

The ACFE report Occupational Fraud: A Study of the Impact of an Economic Recession, found that:

Employees pose the greatest fraud threat in the current economy. When asked which, if any, of several categories of fraud increased during the previous 12 months, the largest number of survey respondents (48 percent) indicated that embezzlement was on the rise.

Layoffs are affecting organisations’ internal control systems. Nearly 60 percent of Certified Fraud Examiners who work as in-house fraud examiners reported that their companies had experienced layoffs during the past year. Among those who had experienced layoffs, almost 35 percent said their company had eliminated some anti-fraud controls.

Fraud levels are expected to continue rising. Almost 90 percent of respondents said they expect fraud to continue to increase during the next 12 months.

“The economic downturn can provide motivation for previously loyal staff to steal from their employers,” explains Richard Hunt, managing director of Turnkey Consulting. “We are supporting Fraud Awareness Week to highlight to employers that, by introducing robust internal controls, they can be proactive in ensuring that they do not put temptation in the way of their employees. With risk management solutions such as the SAP Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) suite offering more sophisticated monitoring and control of all corporate risks there are a lot more options available to companies than in the past. However, it is important that companies do not forget the basic principles of only giving employees the system access they need to do their job and ensuring that appropriate segregation of duties are defined and enforced.”

ACFE President James D. Ratley, CFE, said that the support of organisations around the world helps make Fraud Week an effective tool in raising anti-fraud awareness.

“Fraud continues to be a serious problem, and the state of our economy requires all organisations to be even more vigilant,” Ratley said. “Once again, we want to say ‘thank you’ to all of the Fraud Awareness Week supporters for helping to shine a spotlight on the urgent need for fraud prevention and detection.”

For more information about increasing awareness and reducing the risk of fraud during International Fraud Awareness Week, visit www.FraudWeek.com.

Occupational Fraud: A Study of the Impact of an Economic Recession is available for download online at the ACFE’s web site: www.ACFE.com/Occupational-Fraud. The report is in PDF format.