The Role of Background Checks in Fraud Prevention: Insights from the 2024 ACFE Report to the Nations

The 2024 ACFE Report to the Nations underscores the importance of background checks as a fraud prevention tool during the hiring process. While 57% of victim organizations in the study conducted background checks on the perpetrators before hiring them, many of these checks did not reveal any fraud-related red flags. Employment history (47%) and criminal background checks (43%) were the most common forms of screening. Interestingly, in 84% of the cases, no concerning issues were found; however, in 16% of cases, background checks did uncover prior activity that could have served as a warning but was overlooked, and the individuals were hired anyway. This highlights the critical need for organizations to take background check results seriously and use them as an effective tool to screen out potential fraud risks. 

Thank you to the ACFE’s Report to the Nations!