The CFO'S Perspective

We’ve all heard about “phishing” – malicious emails. As Microsoft notes below, they’re hugely popular among cyber thieves. They also happen to be hugely lucrative (which is why they’re so popular!).  

Since we work with many companies across industries, we have an opportunity to get an inside view of hundreds of accounting departments along with other operational areas, including IT.  We see that with our clients, as with many other businesses, it can be really challenging to find time to improve the security of computing systems – there always seems to be something more urgent.

Your most Important Tip: If you receive an email asking you to wire money or send gift cards, assume it is a fraud – every time. CALL the sender to confirm, at a number you know is correct.

We are seeing, and hearing about, an increasing number of online scams and other negative internet-based activity related to COVID-19 and the mass exodus from company offices to home offices.  

As thousands of information workers recreate office processes and routines to work in an online-only world, the scammers, spammers, information manipulators, and meeting hijackers have been busy as well.

Carl in accounting receives an urgent email from Erica, the company CEO. 

The unusual email captures Carl’s attention, so he verifies that it is from Erica’s email and notes how the tone and writing style is consistent with her other email messages.  The CEO is requesting a wire be sent immediately to the bank displayed in the email.  Since Erica is out of town, Carl complies and sends the wire as requested. 

There are professions that most people would consider trustworthy. Doctors & nurses, firefighters, and teachers all come to mind.  How about accountants?  Do you trust your bookkeeper?  The reasonable answer here is: Yes!  Trust is often built over time, through relationships and evidenced by past and ongoing performance.  The reality is, if you didn’t trust your employees, they probably wouldn’t still be working for you.

This is Part 3 of a series on the causes of a perfect employee fraud scenario.  Read “Employee Fraud Factor #1: Pressure” here, and “Employee Fraud Factor #2: Opportunity” Part 2 here.

In case you missed Part 1 & 2, there was once a really smart guy, Donald Cressey, who created a theory that said: “If three factors were met, any ordinary, trusted person could bring themselves to commit fraud.”

This is part 2 of a series on the causes of a perfect fraud scenario.  Read “Employee Fraud Factor #1: Pressure” here.

In case you missed Part 1, there was once a really smart guy, Donald Cressey, who created a theory that said: “If three factors were met, any ordinary, trusted person could bring themselves to commit fraud.”

In other words, given the right situation (or perhaps wrong situation), anybody could commit fraud.  Not just criminals, not simply “unethical” people, and certainly not just somebody ELSE’s accounting staff.

The three factors include:

>  Pressure
>  Opportunity
>  Rationalization

In Part 1 we talked about the first factor, Pressure, and how a person with an apparently SECRET financial problem might feel no other option than to steal company money.  They are on the prowl for just the right opportunity!

Consider which of these you believe to be true:

• Your bookkeeper is honest and would never steal from you  -> FALSE
• All the people you’ve hired are ethical people  -> FALSE
• A person is either ethical or not ethical, period   -> FALSE
• People who commit fraud are long-time criminals, waiting to pounce  -> FALSE