International Fraud Handbook

CHAPTER 15Western Europe

REGIONAL FRAUD TRENDS

The 2018 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse issued by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) includes 130 cases from Western Europe that were investigated between January 2016 and October 2017. These cases caused a median loss of US $200,000 per case.

As noted in Exhibit 15.1, corruption is the most common form of occupational fraud committed in Western Europe; 36% of the cases analyzed involved some form of corruption. Billing schemes are the second most common category of occupational fraud, occurring in 28% of the cases in the region. In addition, fraud schemes in Western Europe are more than four times more likely to be detected by a tip than by any other means (see Exhibit 15.2).

Exhibit 15.1 Scheme Types – Western Europe

Exhibit 15.2 Initial Detection Method – Western Europe

The 2018 Report to the Nations also examines the anti-fraud controls that were present at victim organizations at the time the frauds being analyzed were committed. Exhibit 15.3 shows that a formal code of conduct is the most commonly implemented anti-fraud control among victim organizations in Western Europe, ...