Fraud

The work-from-home phenomenon has triggered a fresh frustration for U.S. corporations: Americans are blowing the whistle on their employers like never before.

Fraud is continuing to increase this year, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

The single-family house on Forestview Avenue in Euclid, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, shows no signs of farming activity. The only things growing on the one-eighth-acre plot are trees, shrubs and grass.

The Division of Enforcement's annual report also highlights non-pandemic-related issues that arose in fiscal year 2020 and strategic operational changes.

For a few months this year, a U.S. government aid program meant for struggling small-business owners was handing out $10,000 to just about anyone who asked. All it took was a five-minute online application. You just had to say you owned a business with at least 10 employees, and the grant usually arrived within a few days.

As many businesses and consumers have been forced to deal with the difficult conditions thrust upon them by the COVID-19 pandemic, so too have fraudsters needed to make adjustments just to continue their life of crime.

But the federal government has been able to correct some of its earlier missteps, like sending millions of stimulus checks to the deceased, according to the Government Accountability Office.

The COVID-19 pandemic is encouraging various forms of fraud, according to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

COVID-19 has created new challenges and a remote work environment that heightens the risk of fraud at public companies.

Requiring so little from applicants and giving so little guidance to them is virtually begging for fraudulent loan applications to be submitted or for good faith errors to be made.