Report: Global Occupational Fraud Cost Over $3.5M Last Year

Organizations around the world lose an estimated five percent of their annual revenues to fraud, according to a survey of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFEs) who investigated cases between January 2010 and December 2011. Applied to the estimated 2011 Gross World Product, this figure translates to a potential total fraud loss of more than $3.5 trillion.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) published the results of the survey in its 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud & Abuse. The report includes global data among the 1,388 cases of fraud that were studied.

“As in previous years, what is perhaps most striking about the data we gathered is how consistent the patterns of fraud are around the globe and over time,” ACFE President & CEO James D. Ratley, CFE, writes in the introduction to the report. “We believe this consistency reaffirms the value of our research efforts and the reliability of our findings as truly representative of the characteristics of occupational fraudsters and their schemes.”

Key findings from the 76-page report include:

The report details findings such as how organizations were affected based upon industry, how the implementation of anti-fraud controls affected exposure to fraud, the breakdown of fraud statistics by geographical region and the most common behavioral traits observed among fraud perpetrators.

Information from CFEs in 94 nations was compiled to develop the benchmarking statistics on occupational fraud losses, detection methods and perpetrators.

The 2012 Report to the Nations is available for download online at the ACFE’s website.

Source: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners