Most Common Types of Employee Fraud in Oklahoma

Employee or internal frauds are scams committed against an organization or a company. These include things like payment, personnel management, receipt, exploiting information and assets, subsistence/ travel, and procurement frauds.

Most Common Types of Employee Fraud in Oklahoma

Many employee fraud schemes, if not most, revolves around money theft. Check fraud is considered the most common scam in Oklahoma, and absolutely no one is safe from it. Checks have the bank routing information and the account number, so a criminal only needs one to make a fraudulent instrument.

A fraudster might only steal cash on a rudimentary level. Typically this happens when an employee gets a chance to divert funds before it is deposited. There are also many other sophisticated ways that employees steal money from companies. For instance, fraudulent disbursements can be in several forms. A common way involves employees establishing fake vendors to pay invoices in order to pocket the payments.

Workers’ compensation fraud is another common one in Oklahoma. This is not only a common fraud but a very costly crime, whether it’s an employee with an alleged incapacitating back injury making and selling fireplace units or one with a broken ankle who is walking to find antique items. Signs that a worker might be collecting workers’ compensation falsely will start with the incident itself. An employer might have just cause to be suspicious if the incident was not witnessed or it happened before an expected layoff, strike, or termination. Another sign would be if the employee is not able to recall details of the accident or injury, or refuses or continuously delays the diagnostic procedures. Additionally, one should also be wary of any injury that is not consistent with the nature of the worker’s position/job condition or the business.

Physical theft is one of the other things that will come to mind when most people think about employee fraud. For instance, someone is running out of the back entrance with a valuable piece of inventory. There are many steps that employers can take in order to protect their physical assets, but they could be overlooked or not used during the busy periods.

It is important for any employer to keep these things in mind when faced with the threat of employee fraud in Oklahoma. If you are an employer, you have to watch your operations closely and be well-prepared to take swift action at all times to protect what is yours. Just ensure that you are not going overboard with your efforts as you could end-up driving away the good employees or lowering morale. Furthermore, you should consult a lawyer or a forensic accounting firm to know the right action to take to avoid violating the legal rights if an employee if you suspect that he or she is committing a fraud.