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Calculating The True Cost Of Civil Fraud

Fraud takes many forms, from benefit fraud and online credit card fraud through to identity fraud and more. To tackle this seemingly unrelenting problem of dishonesty, the government announced that it was launching a widespread advertising campaign to clampdown on fraudsters.

Benefit fraud alone is estimated to cost Britain in excess of £1 billion every year, so the government’s eagerness to address the issue is easy to understand. However, uncovering fraudulent behaviour and bringing it to justice is not just a job for the state; it is also a key part of what forensic accounting firms such as Frenkels Forensics deal with on a daily basis.

In cases of civil fraud – in which one or more employees are taking money from a company – businesses can end up losing substantial amounts of money. Indeed, in their many years of experience in conducting fraud investigations, the experts at Frenkels Forensics have found that the scale of the illegal activity is usually far larger than first thought.

What might be thought to be simply a case of someone dipping their hand in the till when no one’s looking, might in fact be a deeper problem of tampering with stock, shares, contracts or accounts.

This means that a more thorough approach is required to reveal the cost of the fraud on the business. Furthermore, as IT plays an increasingly important role in how all companies are run, this commonly requires forensic accountants to examine an individual’s or business’ computers to find out secret transactions and any other matters that the fraudster does not want his company to know about. Frenkels Forensics is able to do just that.

A forensic accountancy report will then present on the extent of the civil fraud and the weakness in the system that allowed the fraud to take place. This makes taking legal action against the culprits far easier and ensures the business redeems exactly what it is owed.

For expert help in a fraud case contact Frenkels Forensics for an independent appraisal.

If you’re looking for advice in any aspect of forensic accountancy, then do get in touch via Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn or by visiting our website www.frenkels.com

By Vitek Frenkel – find me via Google+.