Page 175 - Deception at work all chapters EBook

176 Deception at Work

MAINTAIN TOTAL CONFIDENTIALITY

Do not discuss suspicions with anyone who does not have an immediate need to know. It may
be repugnant, but you should assume collusion by at least one management level above the
suspect’s and that even honest managers may resist an investigation.

TAKING THE SAFE COURSE

An undercover investigation in a division of the spoils, so the fraud had to
multinational company revealed that be perpetuated to enable those involved to
unexplained losses were due to an entire keep their jobs. If any new recruits showed
country’s sales force systematically signs of honest reluctance to participate,
defrauding its customers. Periodically, they failed their probation. There was
salesmen were the subjects of complaints by no evidence that the subsidiary’s top
suspicious customers. The result would be management were involved in the fraud, but
promotion for the individuals concerned, so they knew something was wrong.
that they were kept away from hostilities in
the field. Coincidentally, the complainants Their reluctance to investigate was caused
received the impression that the salesmen by fear of adverse publicity and its effect on
had been disciplined because they no longer their careers. They were replaced and the
saw them. Supervisors and intermediate investigation was commenced. It did finish
managers demanded their share in a weekly their careers, but only because they were
too weak to initiate it.

A little paranoia did no one any harm

ASSUME THE SUSPICIONS ARE TRUE

The safe course is to assume that your initial suspicions are true or even worse than they
currently appear. You should not panic or rush to take action, but assemble your ideas and
resources so that you can take the suspects by total surprise at the first step.

A BAD CASE OF LEAKAGE confirmation of his suspicions which he
could see were unjustified. Six months later
One auditor was worried that his findings the sales manager had joined a competitor
seemed to implicate a sales manager in and was systematically targeting his former
conflicting interests. To verify his suspicions, customers. Eventually it emerged that
he checked whether the customer master he had programmed the computer to
file had been printed recently and contrary warn him if the customer master file was
to normal practice. He found that it had interrogated. The email was untrue and its
been – by the sales manager. The following wide distribution was no accident.
day, the entire sales force received an email
from their manager explaining changes in The subsequent investigation proved
the allocation of accounts which he had that he had stolen proprietary information.
decided upon after studying the customer Court injunctions were obtained to stop him
master file. and his new employer using it. However,
much damage could have been prevented if
He had evidently miskeyed because the auditor had been less anxious to confirm
the email was received by everyone, not his suspicions.
just the sales department. However, the
auditor was pleased that he had sought