NCJ Number
176786
Journal
Security Management Volume: 43 Issue: 1 Dated: January 1999 Pages: 57-58-63
Date Published
1999
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Because employee fraud can occur at any level within an organization and motivations can be as wide-ranging as the methods used, companies must establish strict fraud prevention policies and procedures, supplement them with employee awareness programs, and enforce them consistently.
Abstract
Perhaps the single greatest weapon in a company's arsenal to prevent fraud is a set of detailed policies that strictly regulate all behaviors that can result in fraud. In addition, one of the best defenses a company can have is a strong pre- employment screening policy to eliminate candidates with a criminal history. Companies should also have a policy of interviewing employees at the time their employment is terminated. Good fraud prevention policies, however, are useless if they are not enforced. Most employees can be trusted, but ignoring checks and balances that protect company assets will signal to dishonest employees an increased opportunity to commit fraud and get away with it. Companies can benefit from a program that teaches employees to protect themselves and company assets. Such a program should show workers how to spot potential fraud being committed by others. Security managers should run workshops and be responsible for printed media that accompanies an employee fraud awareness program. Executive-level management should be briefed on the importance of internal checks and balances, and managers should be told how to spot potential fraud. Management and employee training should also stress that not all company assets are physical. In particular, employees should be taught the importance of information protection measures and computer password protection and should adhere to conflict of interest policies. Security managers should constantly re-evaluate security plans and make changes as needed to prevent internal and external fraud schemes.