#CyberSecurity #FraudPrevention #ACCA #AI #CorporateGovernance #RiskManagement #DigitalCrime #FinTech #BusinessEthics #OrganizedCrime
Chandigarh:– The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has issued a stark “wake-up call” to businesses and governments worldwide, revealing that a confluence of cybercrime, governance gaps, and artificial intelligence is creating an “industrialized” and systemic global fraud environment.
The new report, “Combatting fraud in a perfect storm,” draws on insights from over 2,000 professionals and 31 global roundtables, concluding that fraud is no longer an isolated, opportunistic threat, but a highly organized, cross-border business model.
Cyberfraud: The Global Amplifier
The study highlights that cyberfraud is the single most dominant risk, ranking highest for both prevalence (39%) and materiality (38%) globally. It acts as an amplifier, connecting and accelerating nearly every other form of fraud, including increasingly sophisticated crypto-linked crimes.
“Fraud is no longer isolated or opportunistic. AI has accelerated its scale and speed while lagging governance and siloed accountability still allow it to thrive in organisation’s processes and architecture,” said Md. Sajid Khan, Director – India at ACCA.
The report identifies several key findings underscoring the severity of the threat:
- “Fraud-as-a-Service”: Organized crime networks are professionalizing AI-powered, fast-moving, and cross-border fraud operations that are consistently outpacing traditional corporate defenses.
- Silent Value Erosion: Highly prevalent, yet chronically underreported, frauds like procurement fraud, abuse of authority, and third-party fraud are often misclassified internally as simple “operational leakage,” acting as a silent, continuous drain on organizational value.
- Crypto Underreporting: Despite the rising incidence of crypto fraud, the survey found that only 10% of cases are referred to law enforcement, the lowest referral rate among all fraud types.
The Critical Role of Cultural Weakness
A core driver of the current crisis is cultural and governance weakness within organizations. The ACCA report reveals a massive gap between awareness and action:
- While 62% of respondents agree that fraud awareness training is important, only 57% believe their organization proactively looks for fraud.
- Dr. Roger Miles, behavioural scientist and member of ACCA’s special interest group on fraud, warned that the “Fear of Finding Out (FOFO)” is a major barrier, demanding that professionals “deeply question the truth of the bookkeeping in front of us.”
Call to Action: A Collective Reset
The ACCA, in collaboration with partners including the ACFE, IIA, and ISC2, is calling for a “collective reset” focusing on uniting disciplines and making integrity measurable.
The report introduces a new Prevalence vs. Materiality matrix to help boards and executives make better decisions about resource allocation, shifting focus from compliance theatre to operational reality.
The final call to action emphasizes the need to:
- Embed proactive detection into business processes.
- Strengthen accountability and dismantle siloed oversight.
- Build cultures where raising concerns is safe and expected, and where consequences for misconduct are consistent across all ranks.
“We’ve reached a watershed moment where we’ve got to deeply question the truth of the bookkeeping in front of us,” added Dr. Miles. Combating modern fraud, the report concludes, requires uniting disciplines, modernizing oversight, and ensuring integrity is both visible and measurable.
#CyberSecurity #FraudPrevention #ACCA #AI #CorporateGovernance #RiskManagement #DigitalCrime #FinTech #BusinessEthics #OrganizedCrime
