Survey: U.S. firms encounter more fraud than global average

    March 2, 2016
    50 percent of fraud incidents committed internally by company employees

    Source McClatchy

    Feb. 20--NEW YORK -- Some 45 percent of U.S. business organizations suffered from some type of fraud in the past two years, compared to the global average of 37 pe cent, according to a survey released Wednesday.

    "U.S. companies are growing their international operations, and the expanding role of the Internet and mobile technology in business can bring risk from beyond their geographic footprint," PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), an international accounting firm, said in its 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey.

    Cybersecurity has been at the heart of US companies' concerns since 2011, as 44 percent of the fraud experienced by U.S. organizations was in the form of cybercrime, the survey said.

    "The survey revealed that 54 percent of U.S. respondents reported their companies experienced fraud in excess of $100,000 with eight percent reporting fraud in excess of $5 million," according to the survey.

    In the U.S. 50 percent of the fraud was committed internally by company employees, the survey said, and 45 percent of the fraud was the work of external actors.

    In the U.S., 14 percent of respondents reported fraud involving bribery and corruption, twice the level of 2011.

    In both U.S. and global firms, some 77 percent of those committing fraud within firms were males between the ages of 31 to 40. The survey said 54 percent of the fraud in the U.S. was committed by middle management.

    Some 35 percent of those committing fraud around the globe, including in U.S. firms, were college graduates.

    Overall five types of fraud were reported worldwide. Of those reporting, 69 percent cited asset misappropriation, 29 percent experienced procurement fraud, 27 percent reported bribery and corruption, 24 percent encountered cyber crime, and 22 percent pointed to accounting fraud.

    PWC interviewed more than 5,128 executives and other senior officials in 95 countries between August and October 2013.

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