Two-thirds of organisations have fallen victim to fraud

Coming from the professional services firm’s Global Economic Crime Survey 2022, this percentage is above the 46% global average for this year. It’s higher than the 56% recorded when the survey was last conducted in 2020.

Of the types of fraud reported, cybercrime was the most frequent with 32% experiencing a cyber breach, although this is less than the number of those who fell victim to cybercrime in the 2020 survey - 42%. Supply chain fraud, which was included in the survey for the first time, had been experienced by 19% of those asked.

Commenting on these findings, Fran Marwood, partner and head of digital and forensic investigations at PwC, said: “With increased levels of disruption being experienced, and the fact that more UK organisations have experienced fraud than in our last survey, it’s surprising to see a decline in some types of fraud and economic crime, such as cybercrime, bribery and financial statement fraud.

“From what we are seeing in the market, I believe some of the trends are temporary, with, for example, instances of fraud and misconduct potentially remaining undiscovered as traditional controls and corporate culture evolve to keep pace with remote working.

“Encouragingly, in some cases, incidences of economic crimes have reduced due to the investment organisations have made in effective compliance programmes, cyber defences and fraud prevention controls.”

When looking at who is committing fraud, 51% of UK respondents said fraud was committed by external fraudsters, compared to 43% globally. The top three external perpetrators of this were customers, hackers and vendors or suppliers.

The survey also found the most serious fraud was detected most frequently by companies monitoring suspicious activity using forensic technology (15%) and by internal audits (15%). This was followed by corporate security - 12% - and whistleblowing or tip-off - 10%.

In terms of money lost through fraud, almost a quarter of respondents reported the figure to be between $1m (£793,210) and $5m (£3.9m).

Marwood added: “The message to organisations is clear. With fraud now a greater and more costly threat than we’ve seen before, and the risk landscape continuing to undergo rapid change, it is important that organisations invest in prevention, and take the time to make sure their defences are match-fit for any attacks.

“Organisations also need measures in place so they can act at pace when fraud happens to them. Failing to do so can end up with them suffering the penalty.”