Date of Award

Spring 5-20-2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Computer Science

First Advisor

Steven Hilkowitz

Abstract

Most companies are interested in increasing their revenue, growing their customer base, and maintaining their business for as long as the market will allow. While some businesses are looking to last beyond the average life cycle of 10 years (U.S. Small Business Office of Advocacy, 2018), most do not consider fraud as a major impact that could end their business. Fraud does exist, even for the small business owners. However, most owners decide to take their chances against fraudulent schemes and carefully guard their business using their own measures. According to the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP) (2019), the 2018 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey states that 82% of finance professionals report that their companies were victims of payment fraud. Businesses encounter fraud and can lose thousands of dollars as a result of it. Some of the common types of fraud a small business may encounter are payroll, invoice, wire, and online payment threats, such as phishing (Anderson, Durbin, & Salinger, 2008). All of these are common ways small businesses are attacked. As companies make purchases, they must realize that any payment type is susceptible to fraud. Consider counterfeit bills, forged checks, and unauthorized cardholder use, these are all fraud related concerns (Anderson et al., 2008). These incidents can prove costly and possibly result in revenue losses.

A business operating cycle consists of purchasing materials, converting those materials into goods and services for customers to buy, collecting the funds from sales of the goods or services, and then, the cycle continues (Masson, 2001). Financial institutions help businesses manage their operating cycle more effectively by providing solutions that improve the cashflow. Banks use cash management services to address the cashflow needs, including measures that will help mitigate potential fraud. With protocols in place, a business can detect fraud and prevent it. However, some owners refuse to use fraud mitigation products. Owners resolve that banks should protect their accounts anyway, even when it comes to Internet fraud. In addition, the cost and time simply does not justify having full protection (Moore, 2018). This behavior could lead to company losses and the end of their business.

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