On June 3, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) published the results of its report on occupational fraud and abuse. The report includes data compiled from 1,483 cases of fraud submitted by certified fraud examiners globally.

Based on the report’s findings, the ACFE has compiled a list of five things business owners, directors, and managers can do to protect themselves from fraud.

The suggestions include setting up a fraud hotline, being aware of red flag behaviors (such as employees who appear to be living beyond their means), not relying solely on external audits, remaining vigilant (which is especially true for small business owners, who typically have fewer anti-fraud controls at their disposal), and focusing efforts on fraud prevention instead of trying to recover funds after the fraud has occurred.

The ACFE's data suggests that organizations worldwide lose 5% of their revenues to internal fraud. Applied to the estimated 2013 Gross World Product, this figure translates to a potential total fraud loss of more than $3.5 trillion USD.

The full ACFE report is available at http://www.acfe.com/RTTN