It is indisputable that fraud is one of the most significant issues financial institutions and insurance companies face.
If you represent a financial institution or insurance company, then you know you get it on both sides because there is a motive for your customers to commit fraud and for your employees to commit fraud, too.
Your organization likely invests heavily in its underwriting to mitigate fraud from applicants and intermediaries. But do you underwrite your candidates with the same rigor? The most sophisticated criminals worm their way into companies like yours to access your client’s information and perpetrate their crimes. There are bonified crime rings in Canada.
While this is not a new threat, fraud is on the rise. The numbers are staggering…
According to the yearly report of the Canadian Anti-fraud Centre (CAFC), instances of fraud continue to climb, year-over-year. In their latest review, covering 2022, the CAFC reported receiving nearly 91,000 fraud reports, totaling losses of over $530 million. For reference, in 2021 the CAFC observed total losses of approximately $383 million in a comparable number of reports to 2022.
Cryptocurrency-related fraud and investment fraud are two of the fastest-growing types of fraud, with approximately $97 million in reported losses in 2022.
Regarding insurance fraud, the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) estimates that insurance fraud costs Canadians over $1 billion annually in increased premiums. Mitigating fraud means being able to reduce offsets through premiums from avoidable losses. This alone can make your organization more competitive.
Many cases of fraud in the finance and insurance industries occur from within. They’re the ones with access to your client’s personal information. Want to protect your company, your clients, and your investors? Conducting these background checks in the hiring stage can significantly help to mitigate fraud.
- Criminal record checks – anyone with access to money or personal client information needs to have a criminal record check. In many of these cases, it’s a requirement for licensing, not just a suggestion. It is a best practice for financial and insurance companies to get a criminal record check on any new hire, no matter how junior the role, if they will have access to your internal system. A criminal record check reveals an individual’s convictions, arrest warrants, outstanding charges, and other criminal records. If any of these are flagged on a check, you need to be cautious.
- ID verification – is the person truly who they say they are? With the technological advances in ID creation, it is quite easy for a person to falsify documents, especially if the financial motivation is there. An ID verification can ensure you’re hiring the right person and not falling prey to a con artist looking to destroy your company.
- Social media background checks – a social media check will examine a candidate’s online behaviour to identify red flags that typically aren’t found using a traditional background check. A social media background check uses a candidate’s social media accounts to verify application accuracy, learn about their reputation, and see if they’re qualified for employment.
- Credit checks – reviewing a person’s credit history and past financial behaviour is extremely important for jobs that require handling large sums of money and sensitive data. Problems paying credit could be an indicator that the candidate has financial challenges.
Some companies go to different sources for each of these checks, but that wastes time and resources. It also is more expensive. Triton centralizes your background screening, simplifying the process to make it more cost effective.
For more information about background screening and how it can help you mitigate fraud visit www.tritoncanada.ca.
