How is Your Company's Fraud Health? Test It and Find Out.

AUTHOR'S POST

Mandy Moody, CFE
ACFE Content Manager

As we prepare for International Fraud Awareness Week, November 12-18, we make sure to always share one of our tried and true, free resources: the ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up. The complimentary tool will test your company’s fraud health with a detailed checklist and video.

Why you should take the Fraud Prevention Check-Up:

• It is an easy-to-use way to identify gaps in your company's fraud prevention processes. By identifying risks early, you have a chance to fix the problem before losing money and becoming a victim of fraud.
• It is a great opportunity to establish a relationship with a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) whom you can call when fraud questions arise. Since the risk of fraud can be reduced but is rarely eliminated, it is likely your company will experience fraud in future and will need a CFE's assistance.
• Strong fraud prevention processes bolster the confidence investors, regulators, audit committee members and the general public have in the integrity of your company's reports, which will help you attract and retain capital.

Make it a priority to get your ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up and share it with your colleagues and managers during this year's Fraud Week. Also, check out more free resources like this at FraudWeek.com.

Would Your Company Pass a Fraud Prevention Check-Up?

FROM FRAUD MAGAZINE

The ACFE developed the Fraud Prevention Check-Up several years ago as an affordable, easy-to-use way to identify gaps in your organization's fraud prevention processes. By identifying risks early, you have a chance to fix problems before losing money and becoming a victim of fraud.

Because fraud can be a catastrophic risk, taking the ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up can save your company from disaster. If you don't proactively identify and manage your fraud risks, they could put you out of business almost overnight. Even if you survive a major fraud, it can damage your reputation so badly that you can no longer succeed independently.

Fraud is an expensive drain on a company's financial resources; the ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up can pinpoint opportunities to save you money. In today's globally competitive environment, no one can afford to throw away the five percent of revenues that represents the largely hidden cost of fraud.

Those organizations that have identified their most significant fraud costs (such as insurance and credit card companies) have made great strides in attacking and reducing those costs. If your organization isn't identifying and tackling its fraud costs, it's vulnerable to competitors who lower their costs by doing so.

Fraud is now so common that its occurrence is no longer remarkable, only its scale. Any organization that fails to protect itself appropriately faces increased vulnerability to fraud.

The Check-Up’s the least expensive way to find out your company's vulnerability to fraud. Most organizations score very poorly in initial fraud prevention check-ups because they don't have appropriate anti-fraud controls in place. By finding this out early, they have a chance to fix problems before becoming victims of major frauds. It's like finding out you have seriously high blood pressure — it may be bad news, but not finding out can be a lot worse.

Read some more tips about taking advantage of your check-up by reading the full article on Fraud-Magazine.com.

2010 Fraud Week Raises Anti-Fraud Awareness

During International Fraud Awareness Week, official supporters like The Boeing Company and Deloitte engaged in various activities in support of the anti-fraud awareness campaign. These initiatives included hosting fraud awareness training for employees and/or the community, conducting employee surveys to assess levels of fraud awareness within their organization, posting articles on their websites, social media networks and in newsletters, and teaming with local media to highlight the problem of fraud.

The ACFE also aided in the effort by providing free downloadable resources including its Fraud Prevention Check-Up, Fraud IQ Quiz and educational presentations focused on fraud prevention and detection.

ACFE President James D. Ratley, CFE, said that the support of organizations around the world helped make Fraud Week an effective tool in raising anti-fraud awareness.

“Regardless of the size of an organization or its business model, fraud is a serious concern – and, if undetected, it can have a measurable impact on the bottom line,” Ratley said. “Once again, we want to say ‘thank you’ to all of the Fraud Awareness Week supporters for helping to shine a spotlight on the urgent need for fraud prevention and detection,” Ratley said.

As Fraud Week nears its end, we want to remind you that the fight against fraud and the effort to spread fraud awareness do not stop on Saturday. The ACFE and fraud fighters around the world work every day to ensure that fraud is prevented and detected. Thank you for your support this week, and we look forward to another successful Fraud Week next year.

Read what all of the buzz was about during this year’s Fraud Week on the ACFE’s Facebook and Twitter pages.

What is Your Company’s Fraud Health?

FRAUD WEEK RESOURCE HIGHLIGHT

ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up

In today’s globally competitive environment, no one can afford to throw away the 5 percent of revenues that represents the largely hidden cost of fraud. Businesses that identify their most significant fraud costs can make great strides in attacking and reducing those costs.

One of the ACFE’s most valuable fraud prevention resources, the ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up, is a simple, yet powerful test of your company’s fraud health. During this year's International Fraud Awareness Week, test fraud prevention processes designed to help you identify major gaps and fix them before it is too late.

The Fraud Prevention Check-Up will help you:

• Proactively identify and manage your fraud risks.
• Pinpoint opportunities that will save you money.
• Find out your company’s vulnerability to fraud.
• Establish a relationship with a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE). CFEs are experts in detecting and preventing fraud.
• Attract and retain capital.

Download the ACFE Fraud Prevention Check-Up here.