Procedural instructions or guidance

This control targets both internal and external fraud risks.

Examples

Examples of this control include:

programme procedures and processes, or instructions for internal functions, e.g. credit card acquittals
instructions for collecting the right information, e.g. to verify eligibility or entitlements
procedures to help employees apply processes consistently and correctly
guidance to help employees make correct and ethical decisions
clear instructions for third parties to follow when completing applications.

A lack of clear guidance and procedural instructions can lead to:

dysfunctional and obscure processes
poor management of fraud and corruption risks
a culture where incorrect processes and workarounds become the norm
fraudsters taking advantage of loose rules and processes to commit fraud and avoid exposure or prosecution.

Methods to evaluate the effectiveness of this control include:

confirming that procedural instructions or guidance materials exist
confirming that employees can easily find and reference procedural instructions and guidance materials
confirming that employees understand procedural instructions and guidance materials and use them
confirming procedural instructions and guidance materials are regularly reviewed and updated
reviewing access records of procedural instructions and guidance material to confirm employees are using it.

Other capability, prevention, detection and response controls that can enhance this control’s effectiveness:

Types of behaviour this control is designed to mitigate:

Explore a range of controls that can be put in place to reduce the risk of fraud happening in your organisation.