A Record Number of Fraud Cases: Who Is Next?

An interesting report was issued recently by Marquet International analyzing US fraud and embezzlement cases that resulted in losses of $100K or more in 2013. There were 554 such cases in 2013, a new (unfortunate) record.  As they say, “This figure represents a rate of more than 10 ½ cases per week – a staggering amount.”

Some of the more interesting statistics taken from The 2013 Marquet Report on Embezzlement include:

• The average loss for 2013 was about $1.1 million; the median loss was $325,000 and the average scheme lasted 4.6 years;

• More than 2/3 of the incidents (71%) were committed by employees who held finance/bookkeeping & accounting positions;

• The most common embezzlement scheme involved the issuance of forged or unauthorized company checks;

• The financial services industry suffered the greatest number and the greatest losses due to major embezzlements;

• Credit Unions continue to be a major target/victim of large embezzlement schemes;

• Government entities were the second most frequent victim after Financial entities, followed by the combined group of Non-profits and religious organizations

We’ve posted some of the specific measures recommended in the report to mitigate fraud losses on our website (click here) or check out the full report here (site registration required) for more information.

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