COMPANY DIRECTORS need to strengthen fraud protection measures and ensure they are “leading from the top” when it comes to fraud, a new report has claimed.

The report, produced jointly by An Garda Síochána and PricewaterhouseCoopers, aims to highlight the risks posed to businesses by fraudulent activity.

According to recent research by PricewaterhouseCoopers, fraud is a growing problem for Irish businesses, with 26 per cent of companies reporting instances of fraud last year.

At the launch of the report, Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy said advances in technology and the increase in the number of financial transactions occurring in everyday business activity meant companies were increasingly exposed to fraud.

Among the most common types of fraud reported to the gardaí are bribery and corruption, computer crime, currency and other counterfeiting, false accounting, phishing and identity theft, according to the report.