Banks across the world are experiencing serious losses because of fraud. Fraud always manifests itself in various ways in such institutions. This can be in the form of providing false information to the bank by some of its customers, hacking into the systems and getting the information that they use to defraud these institutions or any other malicious way that is available for them to manipulate the systems of the bank to illegally access the vital information of the bank.
Most of the fraud perpetrators are insiders of such organizations. This is specifically common among the lowly paid employees who have the feeling that their employers are paying them much less than what they deserve. Employees make the highest percentage of fraudsters in every company because they have full access to the company’s system. They, therefore, have a full understanding of its weaknesses than any other outsider.
Employees have access to all detailed system control points, and they understand best how this system can be manipulated. They have the codes to various sensitive information departments within the company. They are the ones trusted with all the details on how the entire system work and how to manipulate in a positive way in case there be the need. These individuals are the monitors of the system. They are aware of every move and every change that the organization undergoes.
They know of the changes that take place within the organization and understand how these changes will affect the entire organization. These employees understand perfectly well the way funds of the institution move at every stage in their cycle in the bank, and they know which stage is most vulnerable. With all this information, it makes employees the most dangerous fraudsters to every organization, especially banking institution.
To every organization, employees are the most important assets (Black 45). They are the wheel and the engine of the organization. They have to be present in every stage and at every level of the organization’s development. For them to be in a position to successfully manage the activities of the organization, they must be at the centre stage of the organization in regards to access to information. They should be in a position to access necessary informatory knowledge about their departments.
These individuals are therefore entrusted with the codes that make them able to access some of the most sensitive and at times, delicate information. Because they have been informed of how to manipulate the system, in case such a situation may arise that may demand this, they always take advantage of this to defraud the organization. They may disable the entire system and make access to the funds of the bank when the system is disabled.
At times they resort to impersonation. They create artificial customers and open an account to them. They then go ahead to arbitrarily allocate a large number of funds to such accounts which they latter withdraw with the help of the third party. This habit is very common among employees who are discontented with their remuneration.
It is therefore very important for employers to provide proper remuneration package to their employees in order to avert a situation where they have the feeling that they are underpaid in their duties. They should be taken care of financially to the best of the company’s capability. This will eliminate the desire to be a fraudster at the workplace.
Works Cited
Black, William. The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is To Own one: how corporate executives and politicians looted the S&L industry. Texas: University of Texas Press, 2005. Print.