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Schemes Based on Perpetrator’s Department
The eight departments shown in Figure 32 accounted for 76% of all occupational frauds in our study. The spe-
cific fraud schemes used by perpetrators in these departments are presented to help organizations assess risk
and develop effective anti-fraud controls within these high-risk areas. Boxes are shaded from yellow to red,
with darker boxes indicating higher-frequency schemes for each department.

FIG. 32 What are the most common occupational fraud schemes in high-risk departments?

Cash larceny Cash on hand Check and payment tampering Corruption Expense reimbursements Financial statement fraud Register disbursements Skimming

Billing Noncash Payroll
DEPAR TMENT Cases

Operations 288 15% 5% 10% 5% 44% 12% 7% 15% 8% 3% 9%

Accounting 277 32% 14% 12% 27% 24% 18% 15% 11% 21% 5% 19%

Executive/upper 234 26% 11% 12% 11% 62% 26% 30% 18% 12% 3% 10%
management

Sales 225 10% 6% 10% 5% 39% 14% 8% 21% 2% 4% 10%

Customer service 175 5% 8% 11% 8% 33% 6% 1% 9% 2% 2% 17%

Administrative support 116 31% 8% 18% 12% 29% 14% 8% 12% 9% 3% 12%

Finance 101 20% 10% 12% 9% 35% 14% 14% 12% 9% 3% 8%

Purchasing 96 22% 4% 4% 2% 81% 7% 7% 18% 2% 0% 4%

LESS RISK MORE RISK

42 Perpetrators Report to the Nations