COVID-19 pandemic causes increase in fraud threats
The large-scale shift to remote work amid the pandemic has spurred a rise in security and fraud risk, and 89% of internal auditors find it challenging to prevent it. With more than a third of organizations claiming to not have a suitable fraud prevention and response plan already in place, the urgency is rapidly increasing.
The 2022 State of Internal Audit Trends Report by CaseWare International surveyed 3,926 business professionals with internal audit responsibilities globally about how they manage business change, address security challenges and use technology to battle fraud risk.
According to the report, remote working has made it more difficult for 43% — and somewhat more difficult for 46% — of respondents to prevent fraud within their organization. More than 70% of those surveyed sharing that the pandemic has caused an increase in fraud threats in their organizations.
For 30% of respondents, the top concern is theft of assets, including cash, inventory, services and intellectual property. Others cite credit card abuse, falsifying expense reports, collusion with a third-party vendor or service provider, and falsifying or manipulating financial statements as concerns.
“While the trend shows internal auditors have an important part to play in risk management and their influence is increasing in the area of fraud prevention strategy, many continue to operate without a fraud prevention and response plan,” said Scott Epstein, Chief Product Officer at CaseWare. “On a positive note, 31% of respondents say their organization is currently developing such a plan, with 64% saying they already have one in place.”
Discover more report highlights here.
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