78 percent of organizations hit by payments fraud in 2017

Checks continue to be the subject of more fraud than any other payment method, with 74% of respondents reporting this form of attack. Wire fraud followed at 48%, while corporate card fraud ranked third at 30%.

Business email compromise (BEC) played a major role in payments fraud in 2017, with 77% of organizations experiencing BEC in 2017. Additionally, 54% of BEC scams targeted wires, followed by checks at 34%. The good news is that 77% of organizations have implemented controls to prevent BEC scams.

Other highlights of the 2018 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey based on nearly700 treasury and finance professionals responses include:

• 65% of payments fraud is committed by individuals outside the organization

• 67% of payments fraud is discovered by treasury staff

• 92% of organizations report that payments fraud attacks collectively cost 0.5% of the organizations annual revenue

• 47% of organizations discovered fraud less than two weeks after the incident occurred.