Abuse

Kickback Fraud – Also known as bribery of employees. In this type of fraud, a supplier offers kickbacks or benefits to an employee of your company in exchange for favorable contract terms. The risk for your company is that you do not get the best supplier, for example, you may pay too much for the goods or services provided.

Cartel Formation – Suppliers make agreements to artificially inflate prices or eliminate competition. This can result in less business and/or higher costs for your company.

Theft

Delivery of Inferior or Counterfeit Products – A supplier delivers products that do not meet the agreed-upon quality, specifications, or standards. Instead of high-quality materials, your company receives alternatives that are unusable or break down more quickly. This may lead to production errors, reputational damage, and dissatisfied customers.

Financial Fraud

False Invoices or Overbilling – A supplier sends invoices for goods or services that were never delivered, or they increase the price without notice. Often, this also involves double billing. This means higher costs for your company.

Screening

A thorough screening of (potential) suppliers can prevent many problems!

Research into the reliability of current or potential suppliers can be conducted in one or more areas: financial stability, quality standards and certification, delivery capacity, sustainability, compliance with contractual terms, etc.

Abuse

The improper use of company resources: when your employee(s) use company assets for their own benefit, during or outside of working hours. This can involve rolling stock (vehicles) as well as production equipment, tools, etc.
Another example of abuse is fake absenteeism, where an employee regularly calls in sick without justification – sometimes using false medical certificates – or is absent without a legitimate reason. 

Theft

In this case, an employee will steal physical property, such as raw materials or finished products. It can also involve equipment that belongs to your company.

Another form of theft occurs at the level of your company's intellectual property, where an employee may acquire it and possibly sell it to your competitors. 

Financial Fraud

In cases of financial fraud, an employee either directly (e.g., from the cash register) or indirectly steals money. For example, this could involve individuals who have access to your company's bank accounts and transfer funds to their own accounts on a regular or irregular basis. This is often done in small amounts over an extended period, which makes it less noticeable.

Screening

Screening (potential) employees is essential to select the right candidates and minimize risks. This includes checking references, background checks for diplomas, criminal records, and more.

Abuse

False damage claims False Claims – A customer falsely claims that a product or service was not as expected or was not delivered, to receive a discount or refund.


Specifically for insurance companies, it often involves claims for damages made with the intention of laundering criminal proceeds.

Theft

Return Fraud Return Fraud – A customer returns a product that is damaged, not from your company, or a counterfeit version of the original product, with the intention of receiving a refund.

Financial Fraud

Chargeback – A customer, after placing and paying for an order, claims with their bank that the payment was unauthorized, even though you have delivered the product.
 

False Payment Methods – A customer pays you with a stolen credit card or counterfeit bank details, presenting fake proof of payment.

Screening

Screening (potential) customers helps to build profitable relationships in a B2B environment – following the principle of Know-Your-Customer (KYC).


Here, screening can be done in various areas:

• Financial (Is the customer solvent?) – Checking creditworthiness through rating agencies, analyzing financial statements and reports, bank references, etc.

• Reliability – Does your customer have a solid reputation? Are there no major legal disputes or bankruptcies? What about payment arrears, etc.?

• Screening can also cover ethics and compliance, such as sanction checks, ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance), etc.

Abuse

Slander campaigns Defamation Campaigns – A competitor spreads false or misleading information about a company to damage its reputation. This can happen verbally or online, for example through negative reviews. This could lead to potential damage to your company's image and/or loss of customers.


Sabotage of Processes or Systems – A competitor may attempt to disrupt your operational processes, including physical sabotage, hacking, etc., which poses a risk to operational downtime. Here, we can take preventive measures, such as intrusion tests, to determine how easy it is to access your premises.

Manipulation of Search Engines and Ads – This could result in your company having a lower or worse position when searched for online. This may include negative SEO techniques, such as creating spam links to your website or purchasing ads under your company name that lead to a competitor’s site.

Theft

Corporate Espionage – To obtain intellectual property, business strategy, customer lists, etc. This can be carried out in various ways, including through moles or insiders within the company, burglary, hacking, etc., and it poses a significant risk to your competitive advantage.

Financial Fraud

Dumping – A competitor sells products or services at an extremely low price, often below cost, to push you out of the market. This could also be accompanied by cartel behavior, where several of your competitors collaborate against you.

Fake Orders – Here, a competitor places false orders (which are later canceled) and/or sends false inquiries to keep your sales team occupied. This leads to a waste of time and resources within your organization.