Under-researched, Undervalued, Underestimated; the Impact of Insider Fraud on FinTechs.

• In Event: EUROC 9 – Digital Technologies and Organisational Crimes

Abstract

Insider fraud is a major financial crime threat whereby an employee defrauds (or attempts to defraud) their current, prospective, or past employer. Insider fraud has been on the rise since the Coronavirus pandemic and shows no signs of slowing, especially given the recent cost of living crisis.

The response to insider fraud varies; “some organisations acquiesce to internal fraud whilst others robustly confront it” (Shepherd, 2016, p. 3) and “prospect of tackling occupational fraud stimulates greater anxieties than the frauds themselves” (Shepherd and Button, 2019, p. 986). It is therefore likely that the victims (here, the employers) “use a variety of rationalizations to justify their inaction” (Shepherd and Button, 2019, p. 971).

The objective of the research is to better understand how FinTechs are impacted by insider fraud, and therefore how to stop it. This research will make an original contribution within the financial crime field, given the timing of this research being intertwined with the cost-of-living crisis in the UK and the global Coronavirus pandemic. This research focusses on insider fraud within FinTechs specifically, as they are arguably a modern phenomenon in the financial institutions space and have cutting-edge technology at their disposal.

Author

• Claire Maillet, University of Portsmouth