Employee Fraud Causing Recruitment Concern

The latest figures released by anti-fraud organization CIFAS show that employee fraud has increased by 69%compared to the previous year. Figures for July 2008-June 2009 show that reports of employee fraud have risen, with the recession largely being blamed for the increase.

The figures show that 69% of reported employee fraud was due to dishonest actions by staff to obtain benefit by theft or deception. This often was due to falsified expense or timesheet claims, or manipulating targets to receive higher bonuses.

Worryingly for recruiters, employment application fraud has also risen; the number of fraudulent job applications rose by 50%, although there was a decrease in those that were unsuccessful. Whilst the unsuccessful figure has dropped, it could be suggested that this is as a result of lower recruitment numbers due to a tougher economic climate, and certainly the rise in successful false applications will be a worry for recruitment managers and employers alike.

Account fraud also increased, as did the number of reports of staff accessing personal data without permission. This can cause untold damage, as these types of frauds potentially affect customers and not just the internal organization, leaving employers at the risk of damage to their reputation and brand name.

There has also been a large increase in the number of female employees being reported for fraud; again this trend is also being pinned down to the recession, with Fraud Adviser, Arjun Medhi of CIFAS commenting: “As wallets and purses get squeezed, it is surprising to see how many more women feel compelled to attempt fraud against their employer."

Employers and recruiters are being warned to remain vigilant and aware of the increased risk as finances continue to be difficult for some staff, especially around the Christmas period. Employee applications should be carefully vetted, and where possible identity verification should be used, alongside a robust referencing process. For more information on employee screening to prevent fraud, please see our recruitment compliance page.

The full report from CIFAS is available here.

Money Laundering - Sopranos Style

New Jersey has been shocked by the arrest of 44 people including 3 city mayors, 5 rabbis and 2 state politicians. The FBI and IRS (Internal Revenue Service) raided a number of government buildings and even synagogues as part of an investigation into a case of mass corruption and money laundering.

The Mayor of Secaucus was charged with accepting $10,000 in bribes, and the President of the city council and the Deputy Mayor of Jersey City were also charged with accepting illegal contributions.

5 Rabbis were also charged over using religious charities to launder money between New Jersey, Switzerland and Israel. Saul Kassin, Grand Rabbi of the Syrian Jewish community was also charged for laundering $3million between June 07 and July 09 – it is believed the money came from the sale of fake designer handbags.

In other cases, synagogues were being used to clean dirty money in return for fees, and the FBI is now looking into 28 bank accounts they believe were used to clear and place illegally gained funds.

Another man was also arrested in connection with the case, and has been charged with arranging the sale of a human kidney for transplant. Details like this, and the widespread nature of the corruption has led the press to compare the arrests to the TV programme the Sopranos, and highlights the serious organised crime that money laundering is often used to conceal.

America's Biggest Card Fraud: 130million Numbers Stolen

28 year old American Albert Gonzales and his 2 yet unnamed Russian conspirators have been charged with wire fraud and conspiracy in what appears to be America’s biggest case of credit card data theft.

Gonzales and his gang are believed to have spent considerable time researching credit and debit card networks, before finally exploiting them with what is believed to be a complex form of SQL injection. It is believed they were able to then hack into the payment systems of a number of stores, such as convenience store seven, eleven. Although SQL injection can be a simple process to run, and is often favoured by ‘script kiddies’; who are able to run simple commands or even buy code from websites; Gonzales method was deemed to be a more complex and well researched attack.

Data was stolen and sent to services in California, Illinois, the Netherlands, Latvia and the Ukraine. Gonzales is believed to have sold the data on to others, rather than use it himself, an action which enables others to make fraudulent purchases. The thefts occurred between October 2006 and May 2008, and are believed to have led to the compromise of 130 million separate card numbers and details.

Gonzales is already being held in custody because of his suspected involvement in the TJ Maxx data theft; where 40 million cards were believed to have been compromised. A conviction in this case would result in a 20 year jail term for Gonzales.

Victor Chandler Appoint 192 to Boost Customer Verification

The Victor Chandler group have announced that they are to use 192business’ global ID check technologies across their portfolio of gaming sites.  

With headquarters in Gibraltar and extensive operations in the UK, Europe and the Far East, Victor Chandler has customers in over 170 countries. The 192business solution will verify player age and identity to help identify underage customers and prevent card fraud for sports betting, casino, poker and virtual games.  

“We now turn over in excess of £1billion and have over half a million customers in over 160 different countries” said Michael Carlton, CEO of Victor Chandler.  “At this point in our growth it is crucial that we look at boosting our customer verification tools so that we can better control our business whilst we enjoy success in the UK market and welcome customers from all corners of the globe.”

“Our technology will be integrated into VC’s in-house business decisioning tools so that VC customers will enjoy a pain-free and speedy account set-up process and can quickly enjoy a wager with VC” said Julie Sands, Head of Gaming Sales at 192business.

The 192business solution replaces the previous GB Group deployment and was chosen because of the more global, granular and detailed ID checks that will work in conjunction the VC business decisioning process.

192business is recognised in the gaming industry as the leading provider of global age and identity verification solutions.

About Victor Chandler
The company employs over 300 people worldwide and has customers in over 160 countries making it a truly global operation.

The Victor Chandler brand is synonymous with the values of honesty, integrity and a pioneering spirit. These values have been built up over seven decades from a small family business to one of the most successful independent gaming groups in the world offering sports betting, online casino, poker and virtual games.

Sports betting is the core product and where the company’s foundations were set in 1946.  Customers can place bets via the phone, online or mobile phone on a wide range of sports across the globe.  Football is the largest growth market and now accounts for 47% of total sports turnover, with an ever-increasing share of this market coming from in-running betting.

Online Casino is the company’s fastest growing and successful gaming product.

Victor Chandler launched one of the first online casinos in 2000 and the product has developed into one of the best casino offerings available on the internet.  The casino is supported by a fantastic range of virtual games and online poker.  Further information on all products can be found at www.victorchandler.com

How BLP Law Implemented Leading AML Software

Berwin, Leighton Paisner (BLP) are a full service law firm employing around 720 lawyers including 190 partners. BLP Law have a diverse client list ranging from large corporate organisations and financial institutions to government and public sector bodies.

Within this range of services, BLP needed to ensure they were complying with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and verifying their customers’ identities.

Using software for AML Compliance:

The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 were bought into force on 15th December 2007 and require law firms to carry out Know Your Customer checks on all clients.

BLP have around 170 conflict checks and 25 new clients each week that they need to verify.  Obtaining hard copy documents can be disruptive to the customer and BLP wanted a way to quickly electronically verify their identity.

When and how AML software is used:

BLP adhere to the Money Laundering Regulations and find electronic verification software a quick and easy way to verify their new clients and also ensure compliance to the regulations.

There are a number of additional circumstances where BLP carry out electronic identity checks using 192business:

1. If the partner has never met the client

2. If the money they receive for a case is from a source they are unaware of.  E.g. a tenant paying for the landlords fees

3. When completing a property sale, new Land Registry laws stipulate that everyone in the transaction must be verified

4. For verifying staff who are about to go on secondments to ensure they do not have any CCJs against their names.

“I find 192business incredibly easy to use and the support excellent.  We use 192business to make our partner’s lives easier by completing quick and effective online verification.  This in turn makes our clients’ lives easier.”
Amasis Saba, Berwin Leighton Paisner

Global AML Software

BLP have been looking into 192business’ global identity verification databases including Germany and USA for verifying international clients.

Additionally BLP are looking into eventually integrating identity checks directly into their case management system to save staff even more time and effort.