Page 137 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Size of the Victim Organization

Number of Employees
Small businesses (those with fewer than 100 employees) can face challenges in deterring and detecting fraud that differ
significantly from larger organizations. Our data show that these small organizations tend to suffer disproportionately large
fraud losses, which is similar to the findings in our 2002 and 2004 Reports. The median loss for fraud cases attacking small
organizations in our study was $190,000; this exceeded the median loss for cases in any other group. Small organizations
were also the most heavily represented group, making up 36% of all frauds in the study.

Size of Victim Organization Based on Number of Employees

<100 $190,000
Number of Employees (percent of cases) 1,000-9,999 $120,000 $179,000
(36.0%)
100-999
(20.3%)

(24.8%)
10,000+
(18.9%)
$150,000
$0 $50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000
Median Loss

ACFE Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud & Abuse