01 Apr 2016 e-Invoicing leader shocks customers with fake invoices
Leading P2P automation and e-invoicing specialist, Basware, has astounded customers by sending out fake invoices. But it’s not a scam or an April Fool’s hoax – the company is using a hard-hitting campaign to raise awareness of fraud and error in P2P.
With 44% of organisations admitting to having been victims of fraud in the last three years according to a recent study, sharp practices such as duplicate invoices are endemic, yet rarely uncovered before it’s too late – if at all. Another investigation under the Freedom of Information act revealed that local councils in England made £22 million in duplicate invoice payments in the last 24 months – the equivalent of a typical primary school’s budget for 280 years.
Organisations tend to take a reactive stance to fraud, or think “it will never happen to us”. But the Basware campaign points out how easy it is to fool AP departments with seemingly-legitimate invoices that arrive in context. Once paid, losses can rarely be recovered. The would-be fraudster may be external, such as a supplier or malicious third party, but is more commonly an employee in a position of trust – little wonder that P2P fraud is the elephant in the office.
Given human nature, it’s impossible to stamp out fraudulent intent, but organisations can reduce the likelihood of a successful attempt at misappropriation with the right checks and balances in place. Unfortunately, paper-based or manual processes – which are still the norm in too many P2P functions – are riddled with opportunity for deliberate fraud or simply good old-fashioned human error.
That’s why Basware is drawing attention to the practical steps organisations can take to bolster their defences and detect, deter and prevent wrongdoing inside and outside the organisation.
Its recently published white paper, “Fraud Prevention: Avoiding the F-Word in P2P” explains how to identify the ‘red flags’ of suspicious activity and the steps needed to eliminate process vulnerabilities.
In a forthcoming webinar hosted by Basware entitled “Stop the AP Fraudster”, leading expert, Chris Doxey, will reveal the top 20 controls that organisations should implement to thwart dodgy dealings and duplications.
Michelle Urwin, UKI Marketing Manager at Basware, told us: “Companies of all sizes across all industries are at risk of fraud from internal and external sources. This campaign is quite unconventional and light-hearted, but it has a serious educational message about helping organisations to monitor risk factors and avoid the damage of duplicate, fraudulent or erroneous payments.”
