Fraud Prevention Alert—Payroll Disbursement Frauds

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Inc., payroll disbursement frauds related to falsified wages, ghost employees, and commission schemes account for 13 percent of occupational fraud in the U.S. and Canada. Similarly, during the last 9 years, we have identified public money losses in Arizona governments totaling $0.5 million dollars due to payroll-disbursement-related fraud schemes. This alert outlines how some of those payroll disbursement frauds occurred and what actions management can take to deter and detect them.