David Anderson is principal of David Anderson & Associates, a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of fraud investigation, forensic accounting, and marital dissolution services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.

This blog, the last in a series of six, concludes my discussion of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) “Occupational Fraud 2022 – A Report to the Nations”.  This final blog focuses on how perpetrators concealed their frauds:

• The top five concealment methods used by fraudsters were:
  • Creating fraudulent physical documents (39 percent of all frauds)
  • Altering physical documents (32 percent of all frauds)
  • Creating fraudulent electronic documents or files (28 percent of all frauds)
  • Altering electronic documents or files (25 percent of all frauds)
  • Destroying or withholding physical documents (23 percent of all frauds)
    • (NOTE: These five methods total more than 100 percent because some fraudsters used more than one method of concealing their fraudulent activities.)
• 57 percent of all cases involved the creation of fraudulent evidence and 38 percent of all cases involved concealment of BOTH physical and electronic evidence.
• In 12 percent of frauds, the fraudster made no attempt to conceal the fraud.
• 48 percent of executive-level perpetrators destroyed evidence.
• 61 percent of managers created fraudulent evidence.

The above concealment data point to the importance of such anti-fraud controls as:

• Job rotation/mandatory vacation (to prevent ongoing concealment by the perpetrator)
• Surprise audits (to potentially catch activity before it can be concealed)
• Proactive data monitoring/analysis (to potentially catch activity before it can be concealed and to identify trends or data that seems to be “out of sync” due to the concealment)
• Formal fraud risk assessments by outside parties (to identify areas which could be subject to concealment)

I hope you enjoyed reading this six-blog series about the current state of fraud.  If I can be of assistance in helping your business/organization in fighting fraud, please let me know.

About David Anderson & Associates

David Anderson & Associates is a Philadelphia forensic accounting firm that provides a full range of forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley. The experienced professionals at David Anderson & Associates provide forensic accounting, business valuation, fraud investigation, fraud deterrence, litigation support, economic damage analysis, business consulting and outsourced CFO services. Company principal David Anderson is a forensic accounting expert in Philadelphia who has more than 30 years of experience in financial and operational leadership positions and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Analyst, and a Certified Fraud Examiner in Philadelphia.

If you require the services of a Certified Valuation Analyst in Philadelphia or any other forensic accounting services in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, please contact the Philadelphia forensic accounting firm of David Anderson & Associates by calling David Anderson at 267-207-3597 or emailing him at david@davidandersonassociates.com.