Celebrating International Fraud Awareness Week with the Fraud, Waste & Abuse Awareness Survey Results
Throughout the year, we’ve talked about what constitutes Fraud, Waste and Abuse. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently conducted a survey to identify how familiar Exchange associates are with fraud, waste and abuse controls; prevention and detection measures; and risk mitigation. We’re celebrating International Fraud Awareness Week (Nov, 17-23) by talking about Fraud and sharing some survey highlights with the Exchange family.
Fraud, Waste and Abuse (FWA) hurts our company’s bottom line, damages our reputation, undermines trust in our organization and hurts our customers and associates through increased prices, fewer raises or even layoffs. The good news is that we can all help prevent FWA. Most survey respondents (77%) agreed that there are internal controls in their work areas to prevent FWA and that they are effective (72%). The controls include communicating to vendors about our fraud prevention program, conducting ethics training and setting the right culture throughout the organization. Additionally, more than half of respondents agree that we periodically reassess our risk assessment criteria as the organization changes to ensure that we are adapting and being diligent in reducing the opportunities for fraud.
Most survey respondents know we have a hotline (77%), know how to report fraud (86%), and do not fear reprisal or retaliation for reporting suspected wrongdoing (69%). This is great news! Fraud is most often identified by someone reporting it to a hotline. The IG hotline allows for confidential or anonymous reporting and safeguards personal information to the fullest extent possible. It is not feasible to prevent all susceptibility to FWA and 61% of respondents believe fraud can still occur in their work areas. If you see something that doesn’t seem right, evaluate the situation and then bring it to a supervisor’s attention if you still have doubts. You can contact the IG to report suspected fraud, waste or abuse. The online form is available at https://odin.aafes.com/Oig/Complaints/ComplaintHotline or you can email hotline@aafes.com.
We all have a role to play in preventing FWA within the Exchange and protecting the brand, our customers, and our work family. Just like in other crime prevention, if you see something, say something. Trust your instincts and be alert to irregularities and inconsistencies. Together we can prevent and detect fraud!
