CORPORATE FRAUD – STAMP OUT THE PROBLEM, BEFORE IT BEGINS

The risk for fraud remains prevalent – with many organisations vulnerable to both internal and external threats. Not only is ‘social hacking’ and email spam increasingly rife but, add to that, the additional risk posed by inadequate internal controls. Poor supervision or the lack of verified processes can often lead to the creation of false documents or ‘document tampering’.

The increase in remote working due to Covid-19, has further indicated an upsurge in ‘remote’ fraud as opposed to ‘in-office’, which is more prevalent within financial and accounts payable departments than it should be. It is not enough to ‘shut the stable door after the horse has bolted’! We need pre-emptive measures to eradicate fraud at its source.

End-to-end automated workflows provide organisations with the capabilities and functionality needed to entrench preventative measures across daily operations in the fight against fraud. Customised to suit each organisation’s specific requirements, digital validation solutions (complete with electronic signature tools) enable organisations to implement and maintain an effective, productive, and interactive approval and validation process. Clearly defined parameters and templates further ensure enforcement of stringent controls across entire workflows, eliminating any room for manual manipulation or human interference.

The ability to access remotely, as seamlessly as in-office, allows a company’s stipulated chain of approval to remain the same. Additional security layers, for processing amounts exceeding a company’s threshold, further allows for greater checks and validations. This allows for an entirely different and much deeper level of accountability. The ability to view the specific detail of each document in the process – who signed it, where and when, allows for complete transparency (and accountability) at each step of engagement.

It vastly reduces the risk of fraud through efficient, safe, and secure processing of internal processes. It also improves adherence to mounting compliance regulations with greater accuracy, productivity, and time efficiencies. With not all solutions created equally, we share a checklist to consider when reviewing potential options:

Safer exchanges
Certification of the sender’s identity, through certification of the sender’s signature, allows for greater data integrity and authentication. Once a document has been signed – said signature cannot be altered or modified. This allows far more stringent controls, greatly managing risk of fraud across both internal and external documentation.

SMS authentication
An additional layer of security to ensure access and validation by the intended recipient only.

Cloud or on-premise
Hesitant for sensitive company documents and representatives’ signatures to be stored remotely on a cloud that is not yours? Choose a solution that offers you the freedom to choose – cloud, on-premise or a hybrid.

Track, trace, and proof!
Full audit trails in real-time and at ones’ fingertips with no lost documentation. Also, the ability to view each document’s attributes (who, when) right down to visibility of GPS location, IP address and mobile number country of origin.

Third party access
Secure access to third parties (suppliers, vendors, et al.), as needed, allows you to ‘own’ the entire process within your predefined parameters and security levels.

Automated documentation and e-signature approval has a role to play in combating fraud, holding the potential to save business and the economy millions of pounds. Strict controls and enforced vetting and verification of each step of every process is helping organisations, globally, to minimise and eradicate the risk of fraud.

Contributed article by, Symtrax