Fifty shades of fraud

Abstract

Cybercrime, and in particular fraud, is a booming business. Every week we are faced with another story of a business becoming the latest victim of cybercrime or shocking statistics about the rising levels of fraud. Just recently, PwC published a report that found that in the past two years, half of UK organisations have been the victim of an illegal act committed by an individual or a group to obtain a financial or professional advantage. 1 In fact, cybercrime, it was revealed, is the fastest-growing fraud, with a 20% increase since 2014, in comparison to some of the traditional forms of economic crime such as bribery, asset misappropriation and procurement fraud. Cybercrime and, in particular, fraud is a booming business and every week we are faced with another story of a business becoming the latest victim of crime. Everyone is a potential target and only by having the right procedures in place to minimise the risk and the consequences post-attack can we start to fight back. John Lord of GBG looks at the various types of fraud we have to contend with in today's threat landscape and how businesses can help combat the fraudsters.