Fraud cases can literally put a business out of business. Your systems and policies may have loopholes that you haven’t discovered yet. Without your knowledge, your employees can figure out loopholes and scam you out of your hard-earned money.
One of the most important things to do to reduce the chances of fraud is to know the type of people you hire. Conduct detailed findings about your potential employees, their criminal records, if any, and why they are leaving their old jobs. If there is any doubt about their integrity, do not hire them.
As much as you want your employees to be exceptional at their jobs, set reasonable goals. Even well-intentioned people can seek fraudulent exits when faced with impossible goals. They can think of ways to manipulate the systems to reflect that they have met the required expectations while, on the contrary, they have not.
Fraud cases related to finances are the most common. This fact should prompt you to put checks and balances when it comes to authorizing payments. Put in policies that ensure three or four parties authorize payments instead of having a single accountant to trust or even having two accountants that can easily collide to steal from your business.
Don’t forget to have open communication with your employees. As you interact with people, you may see or learn of impending cases of fraud. Just being accessible can even entice an employee to properly report a theft case that is in progress.
Above all, occasionally review your bank statements and confirm that each payment is valid.