Book Insidious

Taken from http://www.mementosecurity.com/insidious/#

Insidious – How Trusted Employees Steal Millions
and Why It’s So Hard for Banks to Stop Them
By BC Krishna and Shirley Inscoe

A compelling exploration of a complex problem
Insidious is no ordinary business book. It takes an unconventional and occasionally irreverent look at a problem most companies don’t want to even talk about—employees who steal. With more than three decades of fraud experience between them, authors Shirley Inscoe and BC Krishna bring you a uniquely informed and objective perspective on the perennial, deeply damaging, and growing problem of employee fraud.

Historically, embarrassed silence greets any discussion of employee fraud. But industry work groups and visionary banks are starting to speak up—motivated by escalating losses, high-visibility fraud events, and a marked rise in employee fraud. Insidious takes this discussion to a new level by providing one of the most provocative and wide-ranging explorations of employee fraud to date.

Why now?

The time is right for Insidious. Economic uncertainty has created a perfect storm that allows employee fraud to thrive like never before. Many financial services organizations are in transition—struggling or merging. More employees are in desperate financial straits. Morale is low. In short, the three sides of the notorious Fraud Triangle —opportunity, motivation, and justification—are stronger than ever. And even entry-level employees have unparalleled access to the data and systems they need to commit fraud—often in just a few keystrokes. No wonder employee fraud is on the rise.

Sophisticated fraud schemes fuel higher losses

Employee fraud is no longer the domain of the disgruntled loner. Highly skilled and often ruthless collusive gangs are recruiting bank employees to participate, willingly or not, in elaborate high-loss fraud schemes. Employee fraud often enables cross-channel fraud schemes that tap deep into the core systems of banks and credit unions—creating losses that are often not even attributed to employee fraud.

Voices from the frontlines of fraud
Insidious goes behind the scenes at banks and talks to the analysts and investigators who know firsthand why employee fraud is so hard to stop—and who share their stories from the frontlines of fraud. It highlights dozens of real-world fraud schemes that generate stomach-dropping losses, send customers fleeing, and damage reputations for years.

To bring you new insights on fraud, Inscoe and Krishna talk to dozens of sources, well-known as well as unconventional. You’ll hear reputational damage experts, executives at banks of all sizes, industry pundits, theoretical mathematicians, the Bureau of Engraving, and many others. You’ll find out just how easy committing fraud is by doing it yourself. And Insidious concludes with an interview with a former bank vice president on the eve of reporting to Federal prison for stealing—providing a rare first-person account of why good employees (often even top performers) go bad.

Insidious takes a Socratic approach
In a dozen chapters, Insidious asks the hard questions:

• Why do employees steal?
• Why do they get away with fraud?
• Why is employee fraud particularly damaging to banks?
• What capabilities do analysts and investigators need to fight fraud?
• What can banks do to start addressing the problem?
• How can banks know they’re making progress?

Beware of consultants bearing silver bullets
For answers, Insidious looks beyond the usual prescriptive solutions. There are no Ten Steps You Need to Take to Wipe Out Employee Fraud. And it doesn’t presume to provide a failsafe, one-size-fits-all solution to employee fraud. Instead, it explores the overall approaches and strategic moves that can help banks and credit unions create an organizational environment that discourages fraud—and that identifies fraud earlier and more often when it does happen.

Ultimately, employee fraud is an inherently human problem that generates painful damage—financial, reputational, and more. And everyone suffers when an employee goes bad, from banks and credit unions, to honest colleagues who resist the temptation to steal, to the fraudsters themselves.

The time to stop employee fraud is now
Insidious is a must-read for financial services executives, investigators, analysts, and other fraud fighters. This unusual, powerful book will leave you inspired, informed, and uniquely empowered to boost the effectiveness of your own efforts to fight employee fraud.

Though Insidious focuses on employee fraud at banks and credit unions, its findings and insights resonate with brokerages, retail organizations, pharmaceutical groups, and other organizations susceptible to employee fraud.