MONTH YEAR BCBUSINESS 23 BCBUSINESS.CA
P R O M O T E D C O N T E N T
Some of the biggest corporate and
consumer fraud risks also exist internally
within businesses and externally through
digital data compromises, say experts.
"We are seeing an increased threat
now through social engineering and
social media sites," states Jacklyn Davies,
partner and B.C. leader of investigative
and forensic services at
MNP, a leading
national accounting, tax and business
consulting firm in Canada.
"One of the schemes is to impersonate
a high-level member of an organization
through finding out the email addresses
from within the business. It could be an
email pretending to come from the chief
financial officer directing the controller to
transfer funds offshore and the controller
does so believing their superior told them
to do so, without following the necessary
protocols."
Once transferred, the money typically
does not remain in the receiving account
for long and can be moved in as little as five
minutes to another country, and tracing it
is next to impossible, explains Davies.
Fraud extends even further to
supplementary health insurance offered
by Canada's life and health insurers,
which provide coverage to approximately
27 million Canadians, says Karen Voin,
director of health claims anti-fraud and
electronic claims at the Canadian Life and
Health Insurance Association.
"In North America alone, it is
estimated two to 10 per cent of all health-
care dollars are lost to fraud," says Voin.
"With the industry paying over $30
billion annually for health-care services
delivered to Canadians, we could be
looking at upwards of a billion dollars,
which costs all Canadians and puts the
integrity of the health-care system at risk."
The industry provides supplementary
health insurance as well as a wide range
of financial security products such as life
insurance and annuities, including
RRSPs,
RRIFs and pensions.
www.equifax.ca/reducefraud
Meet the
Frauds
