(Trinidad Express) Some 46 per cent of organisations reported experiencing fraud or financial crime over the last 24 months, according to PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022. The survey of 1,296 business leaders from across 53 countries found that cybercrime, customer fraud and asset misappropriation were the most common crimes experienced by organisations, regardless of revenue. Some 61 per cent of the 1,296 respondents from 53 countries sit in the C-suite and 39 per cent of respondents have annual revenues greater than US$1 billion.
The survey found that cybercrime topped the list of current threats facing businesses, while emerging risks from ESG-reporting fraud and platform fraud could impact businesses in the future.
The tech, media and telecommunications sector experienced the highest incidence of fraud across all industries which shows organisations’ perimeters are vulnerable, and external fraudsters are becoming a bigger threat as attacks increase and become more sophisticated.Cybercrime tops the list of threats
“Cybercrime poses the biggest threat to small, medium, and large businesses, after the impact of hackers rose substantially over the last two years. The rise of digital platforms opens the door to myriad financial crime risks, and 40 per cent of those encountering fraud experienced some form of platform fraud,” said PwC’s Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2022.
The survey results noted that for this year, cybercrime came in ahead of customer fraud, the most common crime in 2020, by a substantial margin. Some 42 per cent of large businesses reported experiencing cybercrime in the period, while only 34 per cent experienced customer fraud.
Bruce Scott, cyber leader for PwC in the Caribbean, said: “Busi-nesses are seeing an increase in threats from outside the organisation with perpetrators quickly growing in strength and effectiveness. Defence against these external threats requires new thinking.
“Organisations need to be more agile than ever to respond to these converging threats, and adopt new approaches and technologies to predict and prevent fraud.”
Anthony Zamore, director, Cyber, PwC Trinidad and Tobago, said: “Defending against new external threats requires a different set of tools and a continuous focus on policies, training, controls and, increasingly, the use of sophisticated technology.
“It is concerning that 40 per cent of organisations encountering fraud experienced digital platform fraud. The rise of digital platforms, such as social media, services like Rideshare and Lodging, and e-commerce, opens the door to fraud and economic crime risks that most companies are just beginning to appreciate.”
The survey noted that larger companies are at greater risk for fraud.
While just under half of organisations (46 per cent) reported experiencing fraud or economic crime within the last 24 months, the impact of these crimes have been more substantial.
