Global Fraud Focus
International Fraud Awareness Week, scheduled for Nov. 7-13, is an ACFE-sponsored campaign to encourage business leaders and employees to proactively take steps to minimize the impact of fraud by promoting anti-fraud awareness and education.
Hosting an anti-fraud seminar, encouraging colleagues and students to get involved with the ACFE in the fight against fraud, and influencing clients to reduce their fraud risks are just some of the proactive measures encouraged during this week.
Why the campaign? The answer is simple: fraud is a growing international problem. PricewaterhouseCoopers reported in its most recent Global Economic Crime Survey 2009 that respondents who had experienced fraud in the past four years had seen a steady rise in the top three areas of economic crime. Asset misappropriation increased 10 percent, accounting fraud increased 380 percent, and bribery and corruption increased 100 percent.
Fraud and illegal activities, enforcement and deterrent efforts, and cultural and behavior attributes vary among countries and regions. Take bribery, for example. One country might view it as a common business practice but another might aggressively prosecute it as a crime. And fraud is increasingly jumping all borders. Yet many practitioners and academics aren’t current on regulations and anti-fraud efforts across the globe.