Newsletter 3 Article 3
Employee fraud skyrockets as 2009 recession bites
The impact of the 2009 recession is causing a significant rise in certain types of fraudulent activity among UK workers.
According to the report, levels of dishonest action by staff to obtain a benefit by theft or deception (defined by CIFAS as "Where a person knowingly, and with intent, obtains or attempts to obtain a benefit for himself and/or others through a dishonest action, and where such conduct would constitute an offence.") have shown the strongest increase among all types of employee fraud. The rate of such dishonest actions committed in the first half of 2009 is more than two-thirds (69.5%) higher than that recorded in the latter half of 2008.
Successful employment application fraud rose by half (50%) over the same period. However, the rate of unsuccessful employment application fraud fell by nearly three-quarters (74.1%).
The CIFAS argues that the above data indicate that the recession is to blame for rising levels of employee fraud. It says that:
"As the effects of the recession cut deeper, more people are turning to fraudulent activity that they would not have considered before. In contrast, this is counterbalanced by a dramatic reduction of 74% in the number filed for including serious falsehoods in application information or supporting documents. The scale of the reduction reflects the drop in vacancies and recruitment activity throughout the economy, however, rather than a change in morality."
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