External fraud involves the theft of money or stock by persons outside the business.
Examples of external fraud include:
- Identity theft: most commonly, of the CEO and CFO
- Falsifying invoice details (altering the payee’s account number)
- Falsifying order details, so that goods are delivered to the wrong destination
- Impersonating a person’s voice or forging their signature
- Falsification of emails
With the latest generation of fraudsters, the number of external fraud cases has exploded in recent years.