Fraud Risk Assessment
A fraud risk assessment should identify how fraud could realistically occur, not simply produce another generic risk register.
An effective fraud risk assessment starts with the organisation’s business model, incentives, processes and control environment. It considers where pressure, opportunity and control gaps could combine to create plausible fraud scenarios, and then assesses whether existing preventive and detective controls address those scenarios in practice.
R2N Partner applies a structured but proportionate approach. The work may include process walkthroughs, interviews, review of policies and controls, analysis of known incidents or near misses, scenario development and targeted testing. Particular attention can be given to procurement, payments, revenue, expenses, conflicts of interest, third parties, financial reporting and technology-enabled fraud.
The assessment distinguishes between the design of a control and its operating reality. A policy may appear adequate on paper while ownership, evidence, escalation or monitoring remain weak. This distinction helps management focus remediation on the areas where risk reduction is most meaningful rather than creating unnecessary layers of control.
The final output is intended to support action: a prioritised view of fraud scenarios, key control gaps, practical mitigation measures and areas that may warrant deeper review or monitoring. The methodology can also be adapted to emerging threats such as business email compromise, synthetic identities, deepfakes and AI-enabled fraud.