Why Companies Aren’t That Worried About Expense Fraud
Photo Credit: A pile of receipts. In the U.S., travel and expense fraud has been in the news lately due to a variety of scandals featuring government leaders traveling around the world in secret with taxpayer money. Flickr / ben_osteen
Skift Take
Most travel and expense fraud is strictly small-scale stuff, and is hard for companies to catch. New technology tools will make it easier, though, to figure out which employees are routinely ripping them off.
In the U.S., travel and expense fraud has been in the news lately due to a variety of scandals featuring government leaders traveling around the world in secret with taxpayer money.
On the corporate level, however, most expense fraud goes undetected due to the small dollar amounts involved when employees decide they deserve a few extra bucks.
Research from expense technology provider Chrome River found expense fraud costs U.S. companies $1.9 billion each year. Mid-level employees are the most frequent offenders, particularly men under the age of 44.
The average amount employees admitted to stealing was between $100 and $499 annually, and those who got caught said they usually received a warning instead of more severe consequences.
"The fascinating human element of this is that usually the amount of money that people are stealing through expense fraud is small, but the risk they are taking for their personal lives and career is very large," said Alan Rich, CEO of Chrome Rive
