With more employees working from home, The Financial Times reported early in April 2020 that companies face a higher risk of being defrauded by people from outside their operations. The report stated that attempted frauds might involve sending emails purporting to be from senior executives authorising fund transfers or requesting financial information. Companies might also be more vulnerable to cyber-attacks, as employees’ access systems from home networks which have less secure/sophisticated systems.
In addition, companies are now more vulnerable to internal employee fraud. With less supervision, it is perhaps easier for employees to perpetuate fraud. Normal rules and restrictions may have been relaxed to facilitate home working.
Meanwhile, Europol released a report on 30 April 2020 entitled “Beyond the Pandemic, how COVID-19 will shape the serious and organised crime landscape in the EU”. It broke the report down into three phases, current and immediate impact, mid-term impact and a long term perspective. The short term impact included increased criminal activity “in cybercrime, the distribution of counterfeit and substandard goods, various frauds and scams as well as organised property crime among others.”
The report goes on to say with the easing of restrictions criminal activity will return to previous levels featuring the same type of activities.
The speed at which criminals have adapted to the restrictions makes it very challenging for companies to counteract. With the majority of staff likely to be working at home for the foreseeable future and a resultant greater flexibility in working practices, companies are going to have to adapt quickly to continually improve their cyber security defences and tighten up their policies and regulations to limit the risk of being subject to a fraud.
If you have been a victim of a fraud or other criminal activity, Page Group can assist. Please contact us by phone or email to discuss how we can help to trace and recover any funds lost.
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