One of the most common routes for occupational fraud perpetrators runs through the accounts receivable department. Unless you’re aware of these schemes and take steps to prevent them, your business could face serious financial losses. Creative misappropriation Receivables fraud occurs when dishonest employees divert customer payments for their personal use. The most popular method is known as “lapping.” It involves the application of receipts from one account to cover misappropriations from another. For example, rather than credit Customer A’s account for its payment, a dishonest employee pockets the funds and later posts a payment from Customer B to A’s account, Customer C’s payment to B’s account and so on. Dishonest employees also often abuse discounts and write-offs. Instead of crediting a payment to the customer’s account, fraudsters might...