TYPES OF PAYROLL FRAUD

1. This is a more sophisticated form of fraud that often involves salaries being disbursed to “employees” who do not exist in the company. These could be fictitious employees or former employees whose payroll records have not been terminated. It can also involve using the names of current casual employees to fabricate hours being worked within a business and then making payments based on those falsified casual hours into a third party’s bank account. This type of fraud is commonly linked to businesses involved in outsourced labour hire and with large casual workforces, and it normally involves people with ready access to payroll records.

2. This occurs when employees, either by manipulating time records or through deceit, claim overtime for hours not worked.

3. Employees claim benefits for fake or inflated personal expenses. This may include travel expenses, use of a company credit card, use of a company vehicle, or any extra benefit provided to an employee.

4. This occurs when commission is paid on contracts obtained, sales, or other activities directly linked to their duties. Fraud occurs when inflated sales and/or inflated performance figures are provided to obtain higher commissions.

5. Occurs when an employee (in liaison with someone in the human resources or payroll department) changes their pay rate, leading to higher salaries.

6. This is common in businesses where there is a requirement to record hours worked by clocking in and out of work physically or logging in and out of computer systems digitally. Perpetrators generally get other employees to impersonate them, so it appears they have attended work (and are paid accordingly) when they are absent