Kenyans have been warned to look out for fraud trends in 2023 that will target companies especially financial institutions and their clients.
A report released by SAS Institute Inc., indicate that 60 per cent of businesses expect an increase in their anti-fraud technology budgets in the next two years.
This will be necessitated because fraudsters are using the following trends to swindle companies and clients:
Fraudulent disbursements
According to the report, fraudsters will fleece companies through external and internal actors.
This is achieved through manipulation of physical biometrics according to the analytics and software solutions company.
Outgoing payments
Weak anti-fraud technology will make companies vulnerable for manipulation in making undeserved or excess payments.
This has been rampant in Kenya where state agencies and county governments have been accused of knowingly or unknowingly making payments to ghost workers.
On September 3, 2022, Kisii governor revealed that he had unearthed 861 ghost workers who were receiving payment from the county government.
“I have caught them pants down, I’m sure they can’t run, there is nowhere to hide. I’m told there are those contemplating to resign but they must account for the sins they have committed,” Arati revealed back then.
Procurement purchasing fraud
SAS in the anti fraud report noted that most companies concentrate energy in areas they perceive to be weak points.
“When deploying anti-fraud analytics, companies often take a risk-based approach.
“This means they tie their analytics initiatives to the areas of the business where fraud risks are highest or where the evidence of potential fraud can be most effectively uncovered using data monitoring and analysis,” the report reads in part.
Kenyan state agencies and parastatals have been prone to procurement and tendering fraud.
Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Limited (KETRACO) has been accused by The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) of making Ksh600 million excess payment to a private investor.
To prevent the above frauds from happening, the report advises, “Given how the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in anti-fraud programmes is expected to more than double over the next two years, companies need to identify how to effectively integrate these technologies into their process.”
“This is especially critical in Africa where the continent still struggles to overcome traditional infrastructure challenges resulting in fraudsters leveraging increasingly sophisticated technologies to perpetrate their crimes,” the report adds.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE
