Recent research has confirmed an underlying economic logic that connects each of the three vertices of a “fraud triangle” – a fundamental criminological model of factors driving occupational fraud. It is postulated that in the presence of economic motivation and opportunity, the likelihood of an occupational fraud happening in an organization increases substantially if the overall organization culture is perceived as being slack toward fraud as it helps potential fraudsters in rationalizing their actions.

Hence, anti-fraud strategies are policies, procedures, techniques, structures as well as the environment created to reduce the pressure to engage in fraud, minimize the opportunity to commit fraud, lessen the ability to perpetrate fraud and curtail the sense of rationalization in committing fraud.

An annual ethics or fraud culture survey can help with identifying fraud risk within your organization and assist in creating and sustaining an ethical corporate culture by instilling honesty, integrity, loyalty, responsibility, fairness and citizenship within your organization.