Fraud on the increase, BDO survey reveals
BDO Stoy Hayward report reveals that company fraud is increasing by 14% year-on-year
Publicly reported fraud cost UK companies £1.19bn last year, a 14% increase
year-on-year, according to analysis by BDO Stoy Hayward.
Nearly two-thirds of affected companies were in the banking and insurance
sectors, the annual FraudTrack survey found.
Experts believe that corporate fraud will rise in coming months as the
economy worsens, following a pattern seen in previous slumps.
‘Our own experience is that FraudTrack only shows the tip of the fraud
iceberg. This is just the beginning,’ said Simon Bevan, author of the report and
national head of BDO Stoy Hayward’s Fraud Services team.
‘We will see more and more fraud being uncovered in the next two years and
some of these will be stunning in their size, such as the recent Satyam case in
India.’
Retailers have also been hit hard, with reported fraud rising 62% over the
past two years. Companies have also reported a surge in fraud committed by
suppliers and customers. This cost companies £273m during 2008 an increase on
the 2007 figure of 347%.
Examples include suppliers under delivering goods and over charging delivery.