Page 341 - ACFE Fraud Reports 2009_2020

Duration of Fraud Schemes
There is obviously great benefit in detecting fraud schemes as close to their inception as possible, including the
ability to limit the financial and reputational damage caused by the crime. Analyzing the duration of the occupa-
tional frauds reported to us can provide insight into areas of opportunity for organizations to increase their fraud-
detection effectiveness. The median duration — the amount of time from when the fraud first occurred to when
it was discovered — for all cases in our study was 18 months. However, the duration of cases in each category
of fraud ranged from 12 months (for register disbursement schemes and non-cash schemes) to 36 months (for
payroll schemes).

Duration of Fraud Based on Scheme Type

36
Payroll 24 2012
25
30 2010
Check Tampering 24
30
24 2008
Financial Statement Fraud 27
30
24
Expense Reimbursements 24
24
24
Billing 24
24
24
Skimming 18 24
Scheme Type Cash on Hand 17 18 19

Cash Larceny 18
18
26
18
Corruption 18
24
2 Although this Report includes fraud cases from more than 100 nations, all monetary amounts presented throughout this Report are in U.S. dollars.
12
Non-Cash 15
21
12
Register Disbursements 12
22
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Median Months to Detection 2012 REPORT TO THE NATIONS on occupational FRAUD and abuse |

13