In its 2012 Global Fraud Study, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimated that organizations lose an estimated 5 percent of their revenues to fraud each year. This equates to $50 million for every $1 billion in annual revenues.

Occupational fraud, defined as the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets, is most frequently detected because of tips from employees of the victim organization.

According to the 2012 ACFE Report, most frauds result from two types of activities:

Asset misappropriation, in which an employee steals or misuses the organizations resources for personal benefit (e.g. theft of cash or other assets, inflated expense reports, false time reports); and

Corruption, in which an employee misuses their influence in a way that violates their duty to the organization in order to gain a direct or indirect personal benefit (e.g. bribery, nepotism, conflicts of interest)

If you suspect fraud, or if you think something unethical has occurred or is occurring, and you wish to file a report either anonymously or otherwise, visit Stony Brook’s Fraud website.