Drop in value of large-scale fraud cases

The sum lost to high-value fraud cases in Scotland fell by 46 per cent last year, bucking the UK trend of year-on-year growth, but all organisations need to be more vigilant about risks, according to KPMG's latest findings.

KPMG's Ken Milliken said fraud by management and staff was 'on the rise'

The accountancy firm found in its Fraud Barometer, which measures fraud cases with losses of £100,000 or more reaching court, that the amount lost in Scotland dropped to £4.7 million in 2015, but increased for the UK to £732m from £717m.

However, KPMG flagged an 83 per cent rise north of the Border in the volume of cases committed by employees and management against their own employers to reach 11, with the public sector hit particularly hard.

Ken Milliken, head of forensic for KPMG in Scotland, said the insider threat “remains, with fraud by management and employees on the rise”.

He added: “We know from our work with organisations across all industries that there are many more instances of insider fraud and embezzlement. Organisations, particularly within the public sector, need to look at their own internal processes to make sure that opportunistic staff of all levels cannot exploit security gaps.

“This is not just a Scottish problem, with the public sector across the UK also suffering. Having strong fraud policies is not enough. More needs to be done by all organisations to truly understand the risks of fraud and to address those specific risks. The threat may not be where you expect it to be.”

KPMG said that UK-wide the average value of fraud per case grew to £2.4m from £2m in 2014, and overall the private sector lost £332m to scams.