Frauds are not new for the corporate world. This is because by its very definition, even bribery or supplier kickbacks comprise fraud. Other type of frauds include accounting frauds (includes financial misconduct by top management), theft of intellectual property, data or information, counterfeiting etc. What is unfortunate is the fact that not many organizations seem to have a complete understanding of frauds that botch their balance sheets and cause financial injury even as they stand helpless in the wake of poor mechanisms to plug loopholes. Many a times an organization doesn't discloses the fraud as it outs the company's reputation at risk.

According to estimates, India is losing a whopping $40 bn per year because of corporate frauds, which is more than 4% of the country's gross domestic product. According to the KPMG India Fraud Survey Report 2008, India is perceived to be a fraud haven, with over 75% of the respondents to the survey considering fraud remaining undetected as their highest concern.

The dual impact of two concerns, unethical behavior of employees and inadequacy of anti-fraud measures, leads to an environment where both inclination and opportunity co-exist. 'This could mean that organisations in India that remain passive in their approach to deal with fraud may be a perfect breeding ground for fraud.