Financial fraud: The five biggest risks finance teams face

If there's one thing the daily business pages will tell you, it's this: fraud is a risk for any business. No matter how dedicated your finance team or how tight your systems, you'll still be exposed to the possibility of being defrauded, either by an employee or an external party.

Unfortunately, as financial tools and systems have evolved, so too have the methods by which businesses are defrauded. According to UK Finance's latest annual fraud report, criminals stole £1.17 billion through unauthorised and authorised fraud in 2024 alone, with banks preventing an additional £1.45 billion through advanced security systems. This means that over £2.6 billion was at risk from fraudsters targeting UK businesses and consumers - money that could have been invested in growth, innovation, and jobs instead of ending up in criminal pockets.

More than just costing companies financially, business fraud also contributes to a loss of public trust, as well as damaging relationships with service providers such as accountants and insurers. It's also a major headache for management.

In this post, we'll take a look at the five biggest fraud risks finance teams face, as well as some of the tools and techniques you can use to protect your business.

It’s not always a faceless network of criminals

Watch enough films and you'll get a certain picture of the modern-day fraudster: an unshaven villain crouched over a computer screen in a darkened room, surrounded by criminal spoils and cackling as the zeroes roll in.

Whilst dramatic, this is a long way from the truth: you're more likely to end up taken to the cleaners by Brenda from accounts than by some shadowy network of miscreants. Statistically speaking, inside jobs are more common than any other form of fraud.

Research has shown how little it takes for otherwise moral people to be tempted to commit fraud at work. Given the right incentives - personal troubles, workplace grievances, a belief that nobody will find out - all kinds of people will take the opportunity.

The shift to hybrid and remote working has only amplified these risks, with employees feeling more disconnected from company culture and facing reduced oversight of their day-to-day activities.

Why do people commit fraud at work?

A range of factors can play a part in leading someone to commit fraud in the workplace:

• Tunnel vision: Single-minded focus on goals can blind people to ethical concerns, leading them to do anything to hit a certain sales or earnings target. Think Enron.

• Dispersed responsibility: In large organisations, employees can often feel like cogs in a machine rather than responsible individuals. When people feel separated from workplace leadership, they're more likely to steal or commit fraud.

• Workload or time pressure: When employees are under the gun, they're more susceptible to the temptation to commit fraud or malpractice. If it helps them get on and get their work done, they might just roll the dice.

• Acceptance of small theft: There isn't an employee alive who hasn't snuck a pencil from the stationery drawer. Ignoring small thefts like this can lead to larger ones, like over-claiming work expenses.

• Availability of workplace credit cards: This is a big one. No matter how much of a stickler someone might be, holding that company plastic can be a major temptation.

• Remote work isolation: With the rise of hybrid and remote work environments, employees may feel more disconnected from company culture and oversight, potentially increasing the temptation to commit fraud.

• Financial pressures from cost of living: The ongoing cost-of-living crisis has put additional financial strain on employees, creating new motivations for workplace fraud that weren't as prevalent in previous years.

Mostly, internal business fraud occurs as the result of the convergence of three factors:

1. Motivation: Is there a motivating factor for an employee to commit fraud? For example, an employee may have a family member with a health condition, and may see fraud as the only way to support him or her.

2. Rationalisation: Is there a way for an employee to convince themselves that the fraud is justifiable? For example, an employee may tell themselves that if they'd only received that promotion last year, then they wouldn't have had to commit fraud.

3. Opportunity: Is there a viable opportunity to commit the fraud? For example, is an employee going to spot a gap in the system that could potentially be exploited, such as a lag in the validation of supplier invoices?

It's useful to keep these factors in mind and remember that, given the right conditions, almost anyone can be tempted to commit business fraud.

What's more, fraud isn’t always intentional. Poor documentation practices or outdated systems can give rise to unintended fraudulent behaviour. This includes mismanaging invoices or incorrectly coding payments. Whilst these may not be intended, they can be just as costly and disruptive as deliberate fraud.

Let's now take a look at some of the more recent trends in business fraud.

Modern trends in business fraud

It's a sad fact that for every time-saving innovation in modern technology, there is someone willing to exploit it for criminal gain. As online banking and integrated accounting software have evolved, so too have techniques to commit fraud.

Whilst digital banking systems have closed the loop on certain types of fraud, such as physical invoice fabrication, they have also given rise to new forms of fraud, such as identity theft and phishing.

However, the fraud landscape has evolved dramatically since the pandemic. Remote work has created new vulnerabilities, with cybercriminals exploiting distributed teams and digital-first processes. AI-powered fraud, deepfake technology, and cryptocurrency-based schemes now represent significant emerging threats that weren't major concerns just a few years ago.

The rise of 'as-a-service' fraud models has also democratised cybercrime, with fraudsters now able to purchase sophisticated attack tools and services on the dark web without needing technical expertise themselves.

In fact, identity theft remains a persistent threat. Whilst impersonation scam losses decreased by 25% in 2024 according to UK Finance data, they remain a significant risk with fraudsters increasingly using social media and publicly available information to build convincing fake identities. This makes it crucial for employees to be aware of the risks and to keep their sensitive information safe and secure.

Additionally, the integration of artificial intelligence into everyday business processes has created new attack vectors, with fraudsters using AI to generate convincing fake documents, voices, and even video calls that can bypass traditional verification methods.

With that in mind, we'll now examine the biggest fraud risks facing finance teams today.

The five biggest fraud risks finance teams face

Whilst traditional fraud risks persist, the biggest fraud risks facing finance teams in 2025 have evolved to include both classic schemes and emerging digital threats. The five major risks that finance teams must guard against are:

1. Identity theft and account takeover

2. Mobile banking fraud

3. Expense fraud

4. Social engineering fraud

5. AI and deepfake fraud

These risks include a mix of threats internal to the business, as well as those from outside. Let's examine each one in detail.

1. Identity theft

Identity theft is no longer just something that affects people in their private lives: fraudsters are targeting businesses, too. Recent cases have shown criminals successfully accessing company phone systems and running up tens of thousands of pounds in fraudulent charges, or taking over business email accounts to redirect supplier payments to criminal accounts.

Attempts at business identity theft often involve phishing, whereby a fraudster impersonates someone within a business in order to extract sensitive information from a target. The fraudster can then access a range of sensitive records, using these to incur serious damage, even applying for overdrafts and lines of credit.

For example, a fraudster may email an employee posing as their manager or CEO and asking for sensitive information such as a database password. If provided, this would allow access to even more sensitive information, providing ample fodder for fraudulent activity.

Modern identity theft has become increasingly sophisticated, with criminals using information gathered from data breaches, social media profiles, and even company websites to build convincing impersonation attempts that can fool even experienced employees.

2. Mobile banking fraud

With more banking being done via smartphones, including business banking, mobile banking apps, digital wallets, and contactless payment systems are increasingly targeted, with fraudsters exploiting everything from QR code scams to SIM swapping attacks.

Modern mobile fraud techniques include app spoofing, where criminals create fake versions of legitimate banking apps, and account takeover attacks that exploit weak authentication systems. The rise of 'buy now, pay later' services and digital-only banks has also created new vulnerabilities that fraudsters are quick to exploit.

QR code fraud has become particularly prevalent, with criminals replacing legitimate payment QR codes with their own, redirecting payments to fraudulent accounts. This is especially common at events, car parks, and small businesses where QR codes are used for quick payments.

If you or your team are using mobile banking facilities for your business, you should be aware of best security practices. In particular, you should inform your bank promptly if you notice any signs of unusual or unexplained account activity.

Additionally, the integration of payment systems with business software means that a breach in one system can potentially compromise multiple financial accounts, making robust cybersecurity measures more critical than ever.

3. Expense fraud

Expense fraud consists of employees submitting inflated or fabricated expense claims for reimbursement. As a lot of employee expenses are incurred in situations of limited oversight (for example, when employees are travelling or working weekends), it can be challenging to verify the validity of expenses.

With the rise of remote and hybrid work, expense fraud has become more sophisticated and harder to detect. Employees may claim for home office equipment multiple times across different expense categories, inflate utility bills by attributing personal usage to business needs, or submit fraudulent receipts for technology and software that's difficult to verify remotely.

The shift towards digital receipts and online purchases has also created new opportunities for fraud, with employees potentially manipulating digital receipts or claiming for personal subscriptions by labelling them as business software.

As the amounts involved in expense fraud are often on the low side, it doesn't always make sense for finance members and management to spend too much time reviewing them. However, small fraudulent claims can add up over time, especially across a large staff.

Expense fraud also includes the misuse of company credit cards. Even with clear expense policies in place, company credit cards are particularly open to misuse, especially when employees are working remotely and may feel less accountable for their spending decisions.

4. Social engineering fraud

Fraudsters around the world have taken to calling businesses to impersonate customer support, tax agency representatives, or even security specialists claiming to have detected fraud in the business's IT system. This can lead to sensitive or private information being disclosed.

Unfortunately, global efforts to commit fraud via social engineering have grown increasingly cunning and inventive. Fraudsters are now able to target businesses using "spoofed" phone numbers, meaning that when calling, their true number is masked with a legitimate one, for example, that of a government tax department.

Modern social engineering attacks also exploit remote work vulnerabilities, with fraudsters targeting employees working from home who may be more isolated and less likely to verify requests through proper channels. Criminals often research company structures through LinkedIn and social media to make their impersonation attempts more convincing.

Email-based social engineering has become particularly sophisticated, with fraudsters using information gathered from data breaches to create highly personalised and convincing messages. They may reference recent company news, internal projects, or even personal details about employees to build trust before making fraudulent requests.

The rise of collaboration tools like Teams, Slack, and WhatsApp for business communication has also created new attack vectors, with fraudsters creating fake accounts or compromising existing ones to request urgent payments or sensitive information.

5. AI and deepfake fraud

Sophisticated artificial intelligence is now being used to create convincing fake audio and video calls from executives, making social engineering attacks more believable than ever. Deepfake technology can replicate voices and appearances so accurately that employees may unknowingly follow fraudulent instructions that appear to come from trusted leadership.

These AI-powered attacks are particularly dangerous because they can bypass traditional verification methods, as the fraudulent communication appears authentic in both sound and appearance. Criminals can now clone a CEO's voice from publicly available recordings and use it to authorise fraudulent payments over the phone.

AI is also being used to generate convincing fake documents, emails, and even entire websites that can fool sophisticated security systems. Machine learning algorithms help fraudsters identify the most effective phishing techniques and personalise attacks at scale.

With these five financial risks in mind, let's examine some of the signs that fraud may be occurring in your business.

Red flags to watch out for

Often, the opportunity to commit fraud arises due to over-reliance on key staff and stretched staffing arrangements. If you rely too heavily on a few key people, it's hard to keep track of all your company's payments.

There are a range of events and anomalies that could suggest business fraud is occurring. These include:

• Abnormal selection of accounting policies by management

• Omissions or inaccuracies in financial data

• Significant and subjective judgement in financial estimates

• Earnings pressures tied to banking covenants, bonuses or profit levels

• Unexpected areas of business profitability

• Recurring and unexplained negative cash flows during periods of revenue growth

• Revenue reported after period cutoffs

• Unusual patterns in digital transactions or mobile payments

• Employees avoiding video calls or in-person meetings when discussing financial matters

• Unexplained changes in remote work expense patterns

• Reluctance to share screens during financial discussions

• Inconsistencies in digital documentation or timestamps

Given most of these anomalies will be most visible to a business's finance department, they're usually the first people to raise the alarm. Ideally, this will quickly be escalated to management to investigate and address.

Alternatively, if the fraud is being carried out by someone in the finance team, it can be a lot more difficult to detect.

Now we've well and truly freaked you out, let's examine some of the ways you and your team can prevent the possibility of fraud - both internal and external - against your business.

Best practices for fraud prevention in remote work environments

There are a number of steps you can take to better protect your business:

1. Have clear policies in place. This sounds obvious, but many workplaces don't bother to implement policies outlining the various forms of workplace fraud (including expense fraud) and the company's stance on these. These policies should outline clearly and firmly the steps that will be taken in response. And of course, your whole company should know and understand the policy.

2. Update security and systems. Having outdated systems can give rise to fraud. Businesses should invest in modern technology, and should update their security and software on a regular basis. This can include accounting software designed to detect anomalous payments, as well as multi-step invoice payment processes.

3. Automate manual processes. Manual processes such as expense claims are not only widely hated, but can give rise to fraud. Automating processes with tools like an integrated expense management system reduces this possibility.

4. Regular audits and risk assessments: Routine and regular audits performed by a third-party are an excellent way to spot potential fraud. Whilst these should be regular, they should also be informal - there should be no opportunity for anyone to prepare.

5. Provide information on the risks of external fraud: Staff should know about the risks of fraud from outside the business, such as social engineering scams or identity theft. Most importantly, staff should know never to provide any sensitive information via email or phone under any circumstances.

6. Implement AI-powered fraud detection: Modern businesses should leverage machine learning tools that can identify unusual spending patterns and flag potential fraud in real-time.

7. Multi-factor authentication (MFA): Require MFA for all financial systems and regularly update authentication methods.

8. Employee cybersecurity training: Regular training on recognising phishing, deepfakes, and social engineering tactics specific to remote work environments.

9. Video verification protocols: Establish procedures requiring video confirmation for high-value transactions or sensitive requests, helping to combat deepfake and impersonation fraud.

10. Digital verification systems: Implement systems that can detect manipulated documents and verify the authenticity of digital receipts and invoices.

Consider these steps, and decide if there is anything more you could be doing to prevent fraud.

Conclusion: It can happen to you

No matter how great your staff are, they're only human. This means your business will still be exposed to the possibility of fraud, both from internal and external sources.

In 2025's increasingly digital business environment, fraud prevention requires both traditional vigilance and modern technological solutions. The rise of remote work, AI-powered attacks, and sophisticated social engineering means that businesses must stay ahead of evolving threats whilst maintaining the fundamental controls that have always been important.

With over £1 billion stolen through fraud in the UK alone in 2024, and criminals prevented from stealing an additional £1.45 billion only through advanced security systems, the stakes have never been higher for businesses of all sizes.

Take a look at your business's financial systems and procedures, and decide whether there are any further steps you could take to prevent the possibility of fraud occurring.

If any of the red flags described above sound familiar to you, be sure to take a closer look at what's going on.