Almost half of all occupational fraud is detected by some sort of tip, reporting suspicious activity. How can tips and hotlines help detect corporate fraud and prevent information leakage?
Tips about fraud can come from various sources, including employees, customers, vendors or even competitors, and firms should encourage people to provide them.
First, providing a telephone hotline is a great avenue for reporting suspicious activities. Hotlines should be well-publicized and easily accessible and should generally provide confidentiality and the option of anonymity.
Phone or web-based hotlines are common tools for fraud reporting and there are several third-party providers that offer these services. Once a reporting tool is established, management must work to educate employees – on what constitutes fraudulent activity, how to use the hotline and what the policies are surrounding the hotline. Publicizing the policies and ensuring they are followed will increase the effectiveness of a reporting mechanism.
If we can help your firm implement a hotline or other mechanism for reporting fraudulent activity, here’s our contact information:
