Employees committing fraud often display certain behaviors or characteristics that may serve as warning signs.  Some examples include:

• Living beyond means
• Financial difficulties
• Family or personal problems
• Refusal to take vacations
• Wheeler dealer attitude
• Unusually close attention with vendor / customer
• Control issues; unwillingness to share duties

The presence of one or more of these characteristics does not necessarily mean that fraud is actually occurring; however, management should explore the possibility that fraud exists.  The following is a list of the most frequent types of fraud that occur in small companies:

• Check tampering
• Fraudulent billing
• Skimming
• Cash larceny
• Expense reimbursements
• Payroll schemes

Can you afford to lose 7% of your revenues?  It is estimated that fraud annually runs about 7% of gross revenues of all businesses.  In this country alone, that adds up to over $900 billion annually.

Now is the time to take a closer look at your company's policies, procedures and internal controls to see where improvements can be made to reduce your risk of fraud.