Economic Crime by Competitors, Employees, and States

According to a study on white-collar crime in medium-sized companies with 50–100 employees conducted in January 2014, more than half of these businesses had been victims of white-collar crime at least once in the past 5 years. The industrial sector was hit particularly hard, with every second company suffering economic damage, followed by service providers such as Aaden Detective Agency Leipzig with 44% of all companies.

However, the amount of damage varies considerably and is certainly surprising for many: individual losses of up to €500,000 in industry are contrasted by damage totaling €500,000 to €5 million in one fifth of the surveyed service companies. And these sums do not even include additional consequential costs, such as lost revenue due to damage to the company’s reputation. Hardly any company can simply absorb such losses, which is why professional investigators such as the Aaden detectives in Leipzig, specialized in white-collar crime, are increasingly being called upon.

Diverse Investigations by Our Leipzig Detectives

Many medium-sized companies have long been based in Leipzig as well, and their innovations are threatened, for example, by cybercrime or the illegal disclosure of data by employees, making them potential clients of Aaden Detective Agency Leipzig. Our corporate detectives specialize in discreet and thorough surveillance of suspicious employees, checking office and private premises for installed eavesdropping devices, forensic examination of IT systems, and much more.

Danger from Within – Also in Leipzig

Although 91% of those surveyed in the study had already been affected at least once by embezzlement or theft, company leaders do not see the resulting losses as the main problem, but rather the threat to their unique selling points and innovations through the disclosure of information – by their employees (78% of respondents fear this) or by management (74%). In the experience of our corporate detectives from Leipzig, crimes committed to the detriment of companies are far more often committed by their own employees than by third parties. 60% of business owners who have already been affected by white-collar crime see the greatest danger coming from within, whether through espionage, careless disclosure of data, or negligent handling of internal company information.

Companies that have so far remained unscathed are especially at risk because, due to a lack of bad experiences, they do not take the risks from within their own ranks seriously enough and even systematically underestimate them, as explained by the author of this study, Dr. Guido Birkner of the F.A.Z. Institute. Among these previously unharmed companies, only 36% fear a threat from employees and staff. Yet this is precisely where better protection is urgently needed; our detectives from Leipzig can point to many years of experience in numerous cases where companies were helped in crisis situations. These experiences can also be of great help to companies based in Leipzig, after all they too are among the vulnerable and poorly protected medium-sized businesses.

Threat from Other Countries?

Fraud and disloyal conduct are also noticeable in 80% of companies, while compliance violations occurred in half of the companies surveyed. In industry, concern about electronic data is particularly high: more than three quarters of respondents fear industrial espionage or the unlawful disclosure of digitally stored information. More than half of manufacturing companies also expect a rising number of industrial espionage cases; product piracy is likewise strongly feared at 40%.

In addition to external professional white-collar criminals (41%), business owners, presumably sensitized by the NSA affair in particular, see spies from other countries (21%) and even their own business partners (18%) as potential attackers – rightly so, as Aaden Detective Agency Leipzig must say from experience! In the German-speaking world, therefore, it is no longer only product piracy from Asia, especially China, that is feared; increasingly, Germany’s direct contact and alliance partners as well as companies from those countries are also under observation. Those familiar with the detective business, who through their contacts also gain a certain insight into intelligence activities, have known about this threat from the “German friends” for years – long before the NSA affair, which finally alerted the public as well. The protection of internal data, innovations, and information cannot be set too high in order to secure one’s own corporate strategy. Aaden Detective Agency Leipzig will be happy to advise you on the implementation of these protective measures: +49 341 3549 012-0.

Companies Are Not Helpless, They Just Have to Act in Time

Of the 100 companies surveyed, 18 service providers, as noted above, reported losses between half a million and five million euros. Overall, experts estimate that the damage caused by all white-collar crimes amounts to more than 20 billion euros annually. These alarming figures can, however, be countered early on: an impressive 82% of companies already include confidentiality clauses in their employment contracts, and 77% train and sensitize their employees regarding early warning signs and initial response options when suspicious or conspicuous employees appear. What is astonishing, however, is the alarmingly low willingness of companies to scrutinize the criminal history of applicants; not even one in five companies specifically sets out to investigate a prospective employee’s criminal background and any possible connections to offenders or competitor companies. For in-depth applicant screening, especially with regard to criminal activity, Aaden Detective Agency Leipzig serves as the specialist.

Neglected Crime Prevention

29% of respondents set aside no separate budget for prevention; only 23% of companies invest between €10,000 and €50,000 in protecting their data. Large corporations are often considerably better protected than medium-sized companies, even though medium-sized businesses also have protectable assets, whether tangible or intangible. Our Leipzig corporate detectives can assist local companies at any time in creating a unified and coherent security concept and tailor it to the needs and requirements of each individual business, whether that involves developing an IT security concept, reviewing employee backgrounds, or installing security technology on site at the company.

The Devil Is in the Details – Dissatisfaction Can Lower the Threshold for Criminal Behavior

Before employees commit to criminal behavior, clear changes in how the employees in question interact often become apparent. In particular, frustration and dissatisfaction are warning signs for 33% of the company leaders surveyed, but conspicuous behavior at the workplace (25%) or even subtle disparagement of the company (24%) were also often noticed early. Other early warning signs may include a heightened interest in documents and permissions that are actually inaccessible (22%) or possible private life changes. If a manager or even a colleague notices such a change in the behavior of one or more employees, they can, if there is corresponding justified suspicion, engage the private and corporate detectives of Aaden Detective Agency Leipzig at that point in order to protect themselves regarding their concern.