Internal fraud, committed by company staff, represents a growing threat to SMEs in Europe. According to a study, 38% of small businesses have been victims of fraud in the last 24 months<\/b>, with a quarter suffering a financial impact of more than \u20ac1 million. <\/p>\n
Unlike external fraud, it is committed by people who know the company\u2019s internal processes. This is precisely what makes it more difficult to detect, often for several months or even several years. <\/p>\n
It can take various forms:<\/p>\n
In recent months, several cases of internal fraud have shaken European SMEs.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
The finance director of an SME diverted \u20ac1.2 million over 5 years<\/strong> by falsifying invoices and bank statements. This type of embezzlement almost always results from insufficient cross-checking between the issuance of an invoice and its actual payment. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t An administrative employee stole \u20ac800,000 from her company<\/strong> by issuing fake expense reimbursements. Expense claims remain one of the least monitored areas in small organisations, due to a lack of systematic verification processes. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t A procurement manager accepted bribes from suppliers in exchange for contracts, causing \u20ac500,000 in losses<\/strong> to his company. Passive corruption primarily affects roles that negotiate alone with external suppliers, without a second review of the final decision. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t Large companies generally have a dedicated compliance department, automated detection tools and regular audits. SMEs, on the other hand, often rely on a single person for accounting, procurement and cash management, which mechanically reduces the number of cross-checks on each operation. <\/p>\n This concentration of tasks is not a result of negligence; it simply reflects the resource constraints specific to small organisations<\/strong>. This is precisely why simple, even low-cost, procedures can have a disproportionate effect on reducing risk. <\/p>\n European SMEs must act now to protect themselves against internal fraud.<\/strong> Eterra Partners offers tailor-made solutions to help companies implement effective and regulatory-compliant anti-fraud procedures.<\/a> <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\tIn Germany<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
In Italy<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
Three simple methods to prevent internal fraud<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tIs your company exposed to the risk of internal fraud?\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
Why SMEs are particularly exposed<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t