Fraud Prevention

Navigating Risks: The Importance of Fraud Prevention Evaluations

by Nick Witthuhn, Kyle Kasbohm

4 minute read time

SUMMARY

Many businesses are seeking ways to protect their companies and employees from fraud attempts, but the topic can feel daunting. This article aims to bring awareness to what’s causing businesses the most heartburn when it comes to fraud attempt or loss situations and the steps you can take to protect your business against these attempts.

Financial fraud is on the rise, with companies witnessing an uptick in attempts in 2023 compared to the previous year. According to the annual AFP survey, powered by Truit, 80% of companies experienced a fraud attempt vs. 65% of companies in 2022. Unsurprisingly, check fraud remains the number one concern, but that’s not the only alarming trend.

For the first time in the AFP’s survey history, ACH credits are getting hit harder than wires in terms of business email compromise (BEC). The most prevalent payment forms targeted from BEC are ACH credits (47%), wire transfers (39%) and ACH debits (20%). While 41% of fraud victims were able to recover at least three quarters of their lost funds, 30% of payment fraud victims weren’t able to recover any funds lost.

So, how can you mitigate the risk of fraud at your organization?

We know that protecting your business takes attention and planning. To help consolidate the steps you can take, we put together a fraud prevention evaluation that walks you through a key list of questions and answers bucketed by important fraud prevention categories. To download the full set of fraud prevention evaluation steps and get a quick pulse for your fraud protection wellness, click here.

What role can Johnson Financial Group play in helping your organization avoid fraud attempts?

The good news is there are some ways you can lower the risk of fraud impacting your business. While there are some great internal steps your organization can take, which we shared in the fraud prevention evaluation, there are some treasury management solutions that can decrease your exposure to fraud:

For more information, connect with your relationship manager or treasury management consultant or visit the following resources: commercial fraud prevention, business protection tips and security tips.

Source: 2024 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey Report (afponline.org)