Increase in Australian business fraud

Australian businesses have lost $373 million dollars due to major fraud in the past 2 years, a three-fold increase in the past 15 years, yet are lagging behind addressing fraudulent behaviour as a serious issue.

There has also been an 82% increase in individual cases of fraud exceeding $1 million, with the finance sector hit the worst, according to an Australia wide survey on fraud conducted by KPMG.

Despite evidence of its continuing problem, only 15% saw fraud as a key risk in their business.

Those most likely to commit fraud tend to have been with the company for a long time, with 91% having a known history of fraud and 82% earning close to $100,000.

The survey also addressed the time it takes fraud to be detected, with an average of 665 days passing before an incident is reported or identified by a business.

The most common fraud methods, according to the survey, included false invoicing, theft of cash and fraudulent tendering. But technology is also playing a bigger part in fraud cases as hackers become more adept at cyber attacking company networks.