Short Paper: Fraud Article
Benjamin Werbiskis
ACC 421
In the article "Beat or prevent occupational fraud" by Sergey Ozhegov, he goes through
fraud issues that can be seen as prevalent in the banking industry. These issues of fraud occur at
multiple levels of the industry from the top down. Many of the fraud scenarios are easily
avoidable with the right plan put into place. Management can be caught lacking in their personal
security in regards to passwords. They have a tendency to use easily hackable passwords and
rarely change them to an appropriate degree. The reason stated by the author is that management
"does not have the time for security", it is something that is an afterthought when there are so
many other matters to attend to. He goes into detail about how the IT team is essentially the
backbone for many banks, they design the systems being used as well as the security protocol.
Even if they are the most informed about potential cyber attacks they are also able to fall prey to
them. A disgruntled IT team member may be able to lock down the entire company if they felt
like they were wrongfully terminated. That potential situation shows how important it is to
immediately lock out accounts of employees that leave or are let go. An interesting statistic
presented by the author is that 80% of staff fall for phishing emails from top managers. Regular
trainings in how to spot these attacks is the best way to limit or prevent a data breach. Bank
tellers and clerks are often one of the positions that have a higher opportunity for fraud to occur.
They are usually the lowest paid position in banks leading to a need for money at times. They
have access to sensitive financial information that could be leaked or sold online. The fraud
triangle is something that can be examined in regard to clerk fraud situations.
As stated previously a lot of these situations can be handled internally with the proper
implementation of controls. Hiring ethical employees with the right skillsets and training will go
a long way to prevent cases of fraud. Employees need to be aware of the ways that they can be
targeted by fraudsters.
Ozhegov, Sergey. (Nov, 2019). "Beat or Prevent Occupational Fraud: The Human Factor is
Your Weak Spot When it Comes to Banking Fraud." HR Future, 22-23. Ebscohost.
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