Occupational Fraud Research Paper
Occupational Fraud and Abuse
Maia Cunningham-Fortson
Concordia University
Abstract
What is abusive conduct? How does abusive conduct apply to occupational fraud and abuse? What if anything can be done to eradicate the behavior? Are there any methods that can be put in place to deter or prevent this conduct?
What is meant by fraud deterrence being a “modification of behavior through the perception of negative consequences?” Do internal controls have an impact on deterring or modifying behavior? Are the controls enough of a solution to eliminate fraud? Or are they just apart of a fraud prevention program?
Abusive conduct depends on a set of business and human factors. The more rules that are put in place …show more content…
Crime depends on a person’s motive and opportunity. Fraud can only be only deterred by looking at several factors. According to Wells, greed is a factor in occupational fraud but it’s a human trait that is hard to measure because people have different levels greed. When a person justifies committing fraud against his employer this is wages of kind. With wages of kind justification is not what’s important it’s the perception. Occupational Fraud and abuse is immoral, illegal and has negative consequences and to prevent it education is essential within organizations. Understanding and being educated with the concept of wages of kind is crucial to minimizing fraud and abuse. To help minimize fraud organizations need to first “hire the right people, treat them well and don’t subject them to unreasonable expectations.” When an employee expects an employee to be truthful in everything they due this is unreasonable. According to a book titled, The day America told the Truth, “91% of people surveyed admitted to lying on a regular basis. Most of these lies have nothing to do with fraud and not all liars are fraudsters, but all fraudsters are liars. Lying cannot be eliminated but to deter fraud, lies need to be kept from turning into fraud.” (Wells …show more content…
There are arguments that this practice has flaws: prosecuting people is not proactive, some would say that it doesn’t send a message and there is no evidence that proves it does. Punishment does not really deter crime because when a person commits a crime they do not believe they will be caught.
Higher Stance- Fraud polices should be brought out in the open and audit or reviews should not be accusatory. Everyone should be made to feel like they can share what they know. Their input should be respected when reporting what they feel can help deter fraud. If everyone is aware of the problem then they can be on the lookout for people that go against polices.
Increased Use of Analytical Review- because of the risks to small business they can benefit more from analytical reviews.
Surprise Audits – this is an influential deterrent to occupational fraud and abuse. Even though surprise audits are hard to plan they are useful so the evidence cannot be altered or
Maia Cunningham-Fortson
Concordia University
Abstract
What is abusive conduct? How does abusive conduct apply to occupational fraud and abuse? What if anything can be done to eradicate the behavior? Are there any methods that can be put in place to deter or prevent this conduct?
What is meant by fraud deterrence being a “modification of behavior through the perception of negative consequences?” Do internal controls have an impact on deterring or modifying behavior? Are the controls enough of a solution to eliminate fraud? Or are they just apart of a fraud prevention program?
Abusive conduct depends on a set of business and human factors. The more rules that are put in place …show more content…
Crime depends on a person’s motive and opportunity. Fraud can only be only deterred by looking at several factors. According to Wells, greed is a factor in occupational fraud but it’s a human trait that is hard to measure because people have different levels greed. When a person justifies committing fraud against his employer this is wages of kind. With wages of kind justification is not what’s important it’s the perception. Occupational Fraud and abuse is immoral, illegal and has negative consequences and to prevent it education is essential within organizations. Understanding and being educated with the concept of wages of kind is crucial to minimizing fraud and abuse. To help minimize fraud organizations need to first “hire the right people, treat them well and don’t subject them to unreasonable expectations.” When an employee expects an employee to be truthful in everything they due this is unreasonable. According to a book titled, The day America told the Truth, “91% of people surveyed admitted to lying on a regular basis. Most of these lies have nothing to do with fraud and not all liars are fraudsters, but all fraudsters are liars. Lying cannot be eliminated but to deter fraud, lies need to be kept from turning into fraud.” (Wells …show more content…
There are arguments that this practice has flaws: prosecuting people is not proactive, some would say that it doesn’t send a message and there is no evidence that proves it does. Punishment does not really deter crime because when a person commits a crime they do not believe they will be caught.
Higher Stance- Fraud polices should be brought out in the open and audit or reviews should not be accusatory. Everyone should be made to feel like they can share what they know. Their input should be respected when reporting what they feel can help deter fraud. If everyone is aware of the problem then they can be on the lookout for people that go against polices.
Increased Use of Analytical Review- because of the risks to small business they can benefit more from analytical reviews.
Surprise Audits – this is an influential deterrent to occupational fraud and abuse. Even though surprise audits are hard to plan they are useful so the evidence cannot be altered or