payroll fraud
Stealing through paychecks
Payroll fraud is the theft of money from an organization through manipulation of its payroll system.
Common schemes include ghost employees (fictitious workers whose paychecks someone pockets), timesheet padding, unauthorized bonuses, or altering wage rates.
The fraud may be committed by employees, payroll administrators, or outside actors: The accountant ran a ghost employee scheme for three years before the payroll fraud was discovered.
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- skimmingPassing lightly over
- ghost employeesFictitious workers receiving pay
- timecardEmployee hours record
- time clockShift tracking device
kickback · falsified · cooked books · audit · accounting · forensic accounting · paper trail · bank statements · theft · wages · overtime · wage theft · phantom · deception · scheme · discovery · investigation · whistleblower