Page 268 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Victim organizations

Geographical Location of organizations
As mentioned previously, for the first time in the history As part of our survey, we asked
of our research on occupational fraud, we opened up our each respondent to provide
study to include fraud cases investigated by CFEs out- demographic information
side the United States. As a result, the cases discussed in
this Report represent frauds perpetrated in 106 countries about the organization that
around the world. We received information on the location was defrauded.
of 1,797 of the cases that were reported to us. Of these,
43% occurred outside the United States, providing us with
a true insight into the global plague of occupational fraud.

The chart below shows the number and median loss of
the cases reported to us, broken down by region. For vic-
tim organizations with locations in more than one coun-
try, we asked survey participants to choose the location
where the primary perpetrator was located. For example,
a fraud perpetrated at a European arm of a Japanese com-
pany would be classified as occurring in Europe. Similarly, Small organizations are particularly
a case involving fraud perpetrated at the Canadian office vulnerable to fraud.
of a South American company would be considered a
fraud that occurred in Canada. The regional breakdowns large number of U.S. cases reported, we separated North
on case data throughout this Report should consequently America into the United States and Canada, and grouped
be read within this framework. Additionally, due to the the remaining countries by continent.

Geographical location of Victim Organizations 8
Region Number of Cases percent of Cases Median Loss (in U.s. dollars)
United States 1,021 56.8% $105,000
Asia 298 16.6% $274,000
Europe 157 8.7% $600,000
Africa 112 6.2% $205,000
Canada 99 5.5% $125,000
Central/South America and the Caribbean 70 3.9% $186,000
Oceania 40 2.2% $338,000
8 See Appendix for a listing of countries included in each region.

24 | 2010 RepoRt to the NAtioNs ON OccuPATIONAl FRAUD ANd AbuSE