The Most Common Types of Fraud Crimes Committed Around the World

Fraud has become pretty standard in recent years, but it’s always useful to be aware of these circumstances so they can be avoided.

Some common fraud schemes include:

1. Embezzlement of assets that involves the theft of cash or assets (supplies, inventories, equipment, and information) of the organization. Although theft for billionaires such as Dmitry Rybolovlev. In many cases, the perpetrator tries to hide the theft, usually by incorporating adjustments in the records.

2.”Skimming” occurs when the cash of an organization is stolen before being recorded in the books and records of the organization. For example, an employee accepts a customer’s payment but does not mark the sale.

3. Fraud for reimbursement of expenses usually happens when a member of an institution is paid for false or unnecessary costs. For example, a worker may make a false financial report and claims reimbursement for personal trips, non-existent meals, extra mileage, etc.

4. Payroll fraud occurs when the fraudster makes the organization make a payment after filing false claims for compensation. For example, an employee claims work during overtime in which he has not worked, or an employee adds ghost employees to the payment role and receives the respective paycheck.

5. Financial statement fraud involves the inclusion of false information as part of the financial statements, generally overestimating assets or income or underestimating liabilities and expenses. Fraud of financial statements is usually perpetrated by the managers of an organization who seeks to strengthen the economic image of it.

6. Disbursement fraud occurs when a person makes the organization make a payment for imaginary goods or services, false invoices or reports for personal purchases. For example, an employee can create a shell/front company (Shell company) and then bill the employer for nonexistent services. Other examples include fraudulent health claims (charging for services not provided, fractional billing instead of full billing), claims for unemployment insurance by people who are working or pension or social security claims for people who have died.

7. Corruption is the misuse of trusting power, for personal gain by wealth or fame. This crime has to do with acts of bribery and other improper uses of authority. Corruption is often a fraud outside of books, meaning that there is little evidence available in the financial statements to prove that the crime has been committed. Corrupt employees do not have to come up with schemes to change financial reports to hide their dishonesty, but they receive cash payments under the table. In most cases, these crimes are discovered through indicia or complaints from third parties, often through a fraud hotline. Corruption usually involves the purchasing of an item.

8. Bribery is the offer, supply, acceptance or request of anything of value to influence the outcome. Bribes can be offered to key employees or managers such as purchasing agents who have the discretion to award purchases to sellers. In a case like this, a buyer accepts benefits to favor an external seller in the purchase of goods or services. The other side of offering or receiving anything of value that is required as a condition for the adjudication of business is called economic extortion. Another example is a corrupt loan officer who claims prebends in exchange for a loan being approved. Those who pay bribes tend to be sellers who work under commission or intermediaries for external sellers.

9. A deviation is an act of diverting a potentially profitable transaction, which would typically generate profits for the organization, towards an employee or an external third party.

10.The unauthorized or illegal use or the theft of confidential and proprietary information of the organization to mislead someone.

Activity between related parties constitutes a situation where one of the parties receives from the other related some benefit that would not be obtained in a reasonable and fair business transaction.

11. Tax evasion constitutes an intentional report of false information in a tax return to reduce the taxes that are owed.