11 Common Types of Fraud

When you become the victim of fraud, not only do you have to deal with the aftermath of someone scamming you, such as financial loss, but you also have to deal with the emotional side of it.

There are a range of different types of fraud, either way all of them can cause feelings of anger, devastation, fear and frustration. 

Do you think you have been the victim of fraud? At the TCG Forensic Division, we offer a range of digital forensic services, including fraud investigations. Please feel free to contact us on 087 001 0523 or email contact@tcgforensics.co.za to have a confidential discussion around your particular requirements.

Here are the 11 most common types of fraud to look out for…

1. Insurance Claim Fraud. People who make false claims, such as stage accidents, to receive insurance money from their insurance company. This can be a difficult type of fraud to investigate because some injuries can be difficult to medically identify and debate.  

2. Corporate Fraud. This includes fraud issues such as theft of information, such as private client information. This kind of fraud can lead to a damaged business reputation.

3. Financial Fraud. Evading tax, public corruption, healthcare fraud issues, telemarketing fraud and terrorist financing are all part of financial fraud.

4. Identity Theft. Those who are the victim of identity theft will have to look out for suspicious loan or credit card applications, strange withdrawals from bank accounts as well as using a different name to receive benefits.

5. Internet Fraud. Of course, this type of fraud always occurs online where a cybercriminal will try and take advantage with ransomware or phishing scams. Usually this includes stealing private information such as banking and login details.

6. Corporate Slip & Fall. Fraud like this is planned out by individuals in order to file a claim. People will go as far as to pretend to fall or throwing liquid on the floor in order to ensure a slip.

7. Transit Fraud. Companies who offer transportation, whether it is a bus, train or taxi, will often see fraud such as this where passengers will not seat or secure themselves properly, leading to them falling and injuring themselves on purpose.

8. Ticket Fraud. In some countries, the level of ticket fraud is significant. People will buy tickets online from a fake website; these tickets are not legitimate and have often already been used or do not exist.

9. Mechanical Fraud. This type of fraud is not common, however there are many people who fall victim to mechanics who scam their customers. Often they will be overpriced or they will request things to be fixed that are not broken.

10. Expense Claim Fraud. This often happens in large companies where employees will pocket run over business expenses for themselves. An example could be asking for money to stay in an expensive hotel when in fact they are staying in a cheap accommodation and pocketing the remainder.

11. Inventory Theft. Large companies face the issue of inventory theft when unsupervised employees steal products or order more than the store needs and take the rest for themselves. This may include “expired” food products when they are in fact not expired at all.