Reflective Thinking Task – Blog #1
I
disagree with the statement that Cressey’s fraud triangle is an outdated
approach to understanding how and why people commit fraud, bribery and
corruption because it does not address cyber-crime or how groups form to commit
crime.
Cyber-crime is merely a method of conducting fraud, the three elements of the fraud
triangle are still relevant. The triangle approach can still be adapted to
cover fraud that is perpetuated through cyber-crime and explain how criminal
groups form to commit fraud.
According
to the fraud triangle the three necessary elements are:
-
Opportunity,
-
Rationalisation
and,
-
Pressure.
In
my experience working at a software company, certain employees within the IT
department have the opportunity to commit computer (cyber) fraud because they
access to confidential staff passwords (including top management) and the
ability to change them. However, no
employee has committed fraud within the organisation, and nor are they likely
too.
Employees
working at this company are missing two essential elements from the fraud
triangle, Rationalisation and Pressure. It can been seen through my own personal
experiences that each element to this triangle is crucial to the crime actually
being committed. The consequences of
committing such a crime cannot be rationalised by a person who is experiencing
no pressure or will not gain enough incentive.
Rezaee
and Riley state that corporate culture can foster the motivation, and create
the opportunities, for employees and top management to commit fraud, bribery
and corruption, (2010). They also put
fraud down to the lack of responsible corporate governance within
organisations. I would suggest that organisations focus their attention on
these aspects of business in an attempt to prevent fraud.
References
Rezaee,
Z., Riley, R. (2010). Financial Statement Fraud: Prevention and
Detection, Second Edition. Retrieved from http://library.books24x7.com.ezp01.library.qut.edu.au/toc.aspx?bookid=33786.
Useful Link
Check
out this TED-Ed video explaining the fraud triangle (this video also talks
about Parmalat’s fraud scandal): https://youtu.be/Tb6QX9Yy1GM.
No comments:
Post a Comment