Annual fraud risk assessments can be very effective in finding obvious fraud threats and documenting internal controls that are in place to minimize them. However, these assessments can overlook evolving and behavioral risks that could cause significant financial losses if bad actors exploit them. You can help boost the power of your risk-reduction program by actively looking for potential blind spots. Here are several examples of possible threats and how you can mitigate them: Performance pressure. Unrealistic performance targets that employees can’t achieve legitimately may create a “win at all costs” culture that encourages cheating. This is particularly true if you tie compensation to overly aggressive goals. You can reduce this risk by ensuring performance metrics include integrity-related measures. In addition, performance outliers should be analyzed, and...
