Beware of increased fraud during tough times!

Dale Horne, head of Whistle Blowers, South Africa’s leading independent whistleblowing service provider, warns that businesses shouldn’t cut back on fraud and corruption-reporting mechanisms during tough economic times.

Dale Horne, head of Whistle Blowers, South Africa’s leading independent whistleblowing service provider, warns that businesses shouldn’t cut back on fraud and corruption-reporting mechanisms during tough economic times.

Horne says that companies could expect more theft, fraud and corruption as cash-strapped or even heavily indebted employees resorted to dishonesty. An unethical workforce could also undermine productivity and erode competitive advantage while compromising earnings.

“Right now, businesses have to look after what they have. There is no room for lost income and increased costs. Your team needs to be honest to survive. A few bad apples can cost a company dearly. But you can clean up an organisation through your own good people and let an ethical culture take over,” says Horne.

In February 2016, the company received its sixth consecutive accreditation from the Ethics Institute of South Africa.

Whistle Blowers provides a 24/7/365 call centre manned by highly trained multilingual call centre staff who establish a trust relationship with whistleblowers. Employees of subscribing clients can report not only irregular activities such as theft, fraud and bribery but any unethical behaviour in the workplace, secure in the knowledge that they may remain anonymous and that their identities are protected.

Over the past three years, Whistle Blowers has grown by 50 percent in South Africa and 80 percent globally. It has extended its services to 25 countries.

According to Horne, whistleblowing has come of age and is being used more and more by employees who do not condone unethical behaviour; it is regarded as an efficient and effective means of detecting fraud and corruption in the workplace. A 2014 global fraud study, entitled the ACFE Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, found that employees accounted for nearly 50 percent of all tip-offs.