Fraud prevention: controls that remain effective under pressure

Find the moment where a decision becomes irreversible

Broad security warnings are less useful than understanding a particular workflow. Examine how invoices arrive, who approves changes in bank details and how sensitive accounts are administered.

Map the exceptions: an urgent instruction from senior management, a supplier using a new email address, or a request to bypass normal approvals.

Introduce second-channel verification

A call to a previously verified number can stop a fraudulent payment instruction. Two-person approval and documented beneficiary changes add resilience where the potential loss is significant.

Account protection also matters. Unique credentials, multifactor authentication and regular access reviews limit the impact of compromised sessions.

Practical checks

• Identify high-impact transactions
• Assign a primary and backup approver
• Verify new payees through existing contacts
• Exercise incident reporting periodically

Make controls part of everyday operations

Controls should be tested during realistic periods of staff absence and high workload. Otherwise, an apparently strong policy may fail at the very moment it is needed.

Alain Stevens’s technical work since 1999 informs a risk approach centred on both information reliability and the human decisions that follow from it.

Related resources

Build a suitable control

The best control is one that staff can consistently perform, understand and explain.

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