Page 29 - PWM2025_OCTOBER EBOOK

TECHNOLOGY REPORT

diverse risks that can lead to significant employee to ‘lose’ something... steal it and report it as a loss and ing, small consumables – such as stock-
financial losses”. sell it – especially as there are many routes for sale for stolen prod- in-trade materials, office supplies, or
Typically his firm sees crimes relating ucts”. And where an employee makes the decision to steal or com-
to external theft which will most com- mit fraud then the costs can be significant, and more importantly, raw goods – can disappear unnoticed
monly involve trespassing and break-ins it may go unnoticed. over time.”
targeting valuable stock, machinery, and Islam thinks the same. He too says it is surprisingly easy for But why don’t directors see theft as a
even fuel. He says that “it’s not uncom- employees to ‘lose’ company property, and it may not always be
mon for organised crime groups to begin accidental: “In workplaces with weaker security measures, items risk to their business? It’s very odd for as
targeting businesses if they notice like laptops, phones, tools, or even sensitive documents, are at risk Kearns says, “there are simple, cost
there’s a lack of effective security on- of disappearing without a trace.” effective measures they can introduce to
site”. However, they’re certainly not the only thing that will get sto-
And then there’s employee-related len. prevent, disrupt or detect such crimes”.
theft, which will often target the He points here to personal protective equipment (PPE) as The problem is likely the feeling of
removal of easy-to-conceal company “another potential target that non-retail commercial environ- invulnerability, until it’s too late; often a
property. ments should be wary of; it’s not uncommon for workers or
Dave Kearns, managing director of thieves to take them for their own personal use, or for resale pur- business will not know there has been a
the Expert Investigations Group, sees poses.” theft or fraud until something happens
three different vectors for attack. Then there’s fuel which he considers probably one of the larger to highlight it.
The first comes through external play- ‘non-conventional’ targets of theft though. As he outlines, “if com-
ers who commit fraud or who perpetrate pany vehicles are left unattended, it’s a perfect window for thieves Take fraud. Kearns says that the fig-
cyberattacks for financial gain by, for – or even employees – to siphon fuel; this can be especially hard to ures from the Association of Certified
example, either obtaining monies via keep track of if it’s done in small amounts”. Fraud Examiners Report to the Nations
false invoicing or supplier frauds. He But as Kearns well knows, everything has a value, whether it is
warns that “gaining access for data, in a raw or finished state – “there is a marketplace and outlet for 2024 shows that (internationally) 19%
including personal details, can enable the sale of all stolen goods in one format or another”. of fraud was found by accident and in
fraudsters to use identification for other
And he’s seen some big numbers at clients – the theft of
32% of cases, the internal controls had
You couldn’t make it up fraud or criminal means.” £125,000 of vehicle parts in completed state. In this instance, an been overridden .
Next comes external physical theft by
employee came on site, loaded a vehicle, used a forklift and drove
Fundamentally, he believes “there is
what he terms the ‘typical criminal’
the goods away. Another case saw high-value flooring worth
through burglary, walk in theft, and
criminal damage. He notes that it should £90,000 loaded by employees into their vehicles and sold on the opportunity for dishonesty in every
eBay.
be obvious what the initial effect that And in a third, there was the theft of scrap metal by three type of commercial or industrial busi-
theft and burglary can have on a busi- Saturday workers when there were no supervisors around; they ness irrespective of its geographical loca-
ness, but “one must also consider the loaded their vehicles and went to a scrapyard each Saturday after- tion, turnover, number of employees or
loss of downtime and productivity as a noon. The possible loss over many years was estimated to be
result of the theft... this could be theft of around £100,000. industry sector”.
certain tools, computers or vehicles”. Equally, Kearns reckons that not all cases have to be high value:
Thirdly, Kearns highlights the risk of “An employee who can steal £100 per week in some format or The key to protection
internal theft and fraud committed by another will be happy with their gain and draw no attention to Crime prevention measures such as
employees. He adds that in “over 25 themselves.”
years I have investigated in every type of Similarly, Islam thinks low-value items are at high risk of loss technology, zero-tolerance attitudes,
commercial, industrial or manufactur- and are surprisingly common targets. And this is because “low- written policies and inventory tracking
ing business. The offences and those that value items often go unnoticed when missing, which makes them are, in Kearns’ opinion, “the most
go undetected are and have been com- an easy target. But repeated theft of low-value items can add up to
mitted at all hierarchal levels of a busi- a significant sum over time.” neglected area by businesses, managers
ness”. He continues: “When several and directors”.
people are involved, or senior/board Inventory loss He reckons that situational crime pre-
members are involved, statistics show it And what about losses of inventory in general? In relation to
takes longer to identify the theft or this Kearns is bothered that so few businesses put internal theft vention should include IT and software
fraud, and the median losses are higher and fraud on the board’s agenda. As he says: “It’s only after a theft systems, CCTV, access control, inven-
than an individual working alone.” or fraud that they are willing to accept the risk as real and put tory and stock monitoring, perimeter
measures in place to prevent it happening again – but this too
Losing items late… a typical case of ‘closing the stable door after the horse has security, lighting, housekeeping as well
Theft goes beyond the obvious bolted’.” as a written managed protocols that is
‘removal’ of the physical as employees Indeed, Islam sees losses of inventory, particularly consumables disseminated to all employees. Such
can also ‘lose’ items such as phones or that are easy to resell, as being more widespread than many busi-
laptops. ness owners realise or are willing to admit. measures form layers of protection. This
As Kearns outlines, “it is simple for an As he comments: “Unlike high-value items that require track- is a tack that Islam would take.

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