Crinkled paper to fake logos: Businesses face surge in expense scams
Businesses are experiencing a sharp rise in fraudulent attempts at expenses, as AI has made it easier to replicate receipts.
Over the last three months, Google searches for ‘AI receipts’ have soared by 340 per cent, as employees look to take advantage of AI-generated capabilities to submit fake expenses.
A recent study by SAP Concur found that 70 per cent of CFOs thought employees were using AI to attempt to falsify travel expenses and receipts.
Jonathan Haseler, chief revenue officer at tech business Radius, said, “Receipts aren’t complicated documents to replicate, especially with the help of AI.”
As a result, “this means that employers may struggle to distinguish between fraudulent documentation and real ones with the naked eye.”
The scams can “strongly mimic a real-life receipt” with the logo and even a crinkled paper effect.
Yet, Haseler pointed out, “There are practices that business leaders can put in place to ensure employees don’t risk submitting a scam and anomalies can be spotted more easily, saving businesses plenty of time and money in the long term.”
Fraud is ‘endemic’
He highlighted that to effectively combat expense fraud, businesses should focus on a combination of employee education, digitalisation, and specialised tools like fuel cards.
This comes as “fraud is endemic” in the UK and across the City, with the UK economy losing around £219bn annually due to fraud, with the private sector suffering the brunt, losing around £157.8bn.
A report released earlier this year revealed that British businesses face an all-time high level of fraud, losing hundreds of billions of pounds annually as criminals exploit outdated systems and AI.
Back in September, the chair of Canada Police Authority Board, Tijs Broeke, warned that fraud is “damaging the foundations of our nation” and the UK must treat it with the same urgency as street crime.