Fraud risk management – the five areas of risk

Steve White of Network International examines five key areas of risk – procurement, treasury, IT security, staff practices and physical security – which a fraud risk management programme must address in order to add value.

“Fraud” is a scary concept. At least that is how it seems to the uninitiated. In reality fraud is just the exciting end of financial control and should be dealt with in the same was as any other aspect of financial control. Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, the danger is that many organisations avoid dealing with fraud because it seems to be a risk that cannot be understood or addressed. At least, that is the attitude until a serious fraud happens.