Rising consumerism has resulted in middle-level executives indulging in frauds to support lifestyle needs, a survey said.
"With increasing consumerism, there is a shift from the 'need' to 'greed' as a motive for committing fraud," consultancy firm Ernst & Young India says in the report titled 'Fraud and corporate governance: changing paradigm'.
In an increasing number of cases, it has been found that corporate frauds are being committed by younger employees to "support a lifestyle that is not commensurate with their incomes", says the report, adding "this appears to be in line with the increasing consumerism in the country".
Typically, a fraudster is a very ambitious mid-management employee, far from retirement, working in the procurement or sales department, it said.
Apart from banking and financial sector, which is perceived to be more vulnerable, other sectors such as infrastructure, IT/ITES and consumer products also have seen a significant increase in incidence of frauds, it said.
Nearly three-fifths of those polled for the survey said their companies have been subjected to fraud during last year.
The growing use of technology has led to a jump in instances of technology-led fraud. "A proactive approach to fraud risk management is the need of the hour. Technology and a robust whistle-blowing mechanism can play a large role in mitigating these risks," E&Y's partner Arpinder Singh said.
