Fraudsters in companies make increasing use of technology

The study Global profiles of the fraudster (in Portuguese, profile of the fraudster), carried out by KPMG, indicates the increasing use of technology by fraudsters. “We are in a new generation of people capable of using technological means to have access to a greater amount of information than previous generations”, explains Gerónimo Timerman, lead partner in the Forensic & Litigation area. 
 
In addition to fraudsters who know, control and manipulate the systems, there are also those who find faults by accident or actually look for them and then exploit them. Another point indicated in the survey is that more than half (54%) of frauds were facilitated by weak internal controls. This suggests that organizations need to enforce stricter controls and supervise employees more closely.
 
“Internal controls and compliance actions become increasingly vital for a company not to go through the troubles of fraud. In this context, there would be a drastic decrease in opportunities for employees to deviate”, warns the executive.
 
According to the survey, 70% of the typical crooks are between 36 and 55 years old, and most of them work in the executive, financial, operational, sales or marketing areas. Among them, 25% occupy a managerial position, and 29% an executive position. In addition, 42% of fraudsters had, on average, worked for more than six years in the organization. The survey also shows that in 70% of the frauds, the author found it difficult to carry out it alone, and therefore worked with other executives.
 
“Faced with an investment market and a turbulent economy, companies and investors must be aware that fraudsters can appear at any time, in all shapes and sizes,” ponders Timerman.
 
The most common fraud, according to the results, is embezzlement, or simply theft of assets, which corresponds to 56% of cases. Of these, 40% consist of embezzlement of funds and in 27% cases, fraud occurs in purchases.