Cerebra Whitepaper: Hidden Threat-Supply Chain Fraud

Today, supply chains are no longer merely areas of operational efficiency for companies; they have also evolved into critical structures at the center of fraud, corruption, compliance, and reputational risks. This ecosystem—characterized by multiple actors, geographic dispersion, and high levels of information asymmetry—creates a highly favorable environment for fraud, both for internal employees and third parties.

According to the 2024 Fraud Report published by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), approximately 90% of fraud cases involve asset misappropriation, while around 50% are associated with corruption. A significant proportion of these cases arise in supply-chain-specific stages such as procurement, supplier selection, contract management, goods receipt, and logistics processes.

Prepared by Cerebra, the whitepaper titled “Hidden Threat: Supply Chain Fraud” adopts a multi-dimensional perspective to examine the root causes of supply chain fraud, its common types, and why such risks often remain undetected for long periods. The study also analyzes why supply chains are particularly vulnerable to fraud, focusing on key risk factors such as information asymmetry, control weaknesses, geographic dispersion, third-party dependency, and limited digital traceability.

The whitepaper further explores in detail the operational, financial, compliance, and reputational impacts of supply chain fraud on organizations. Through real case analyses, it demonstrates how fraud schemes are carried out in practice and which control weaknesses they exploit.

In addition, the study addresses the following topics from a practical, application-oriented perspective:

• Typical red flags of supply chain fraud,
• Data analytics, forensic accounting, and process-based investigation approaches,
• The role of internal investigations and digital forensic analyses,
• Risk-based internal control systems and supplier due diligence practices,
• Transparent contracting structures, whistleblowing mechanisms, and digitalization-based preventive approaches.

The “Hidden Threat: Supply Chain Fraud” whitepaper serves as a guiding resource for organizations seeking to manage their supply chains through a holistic risk-management perspective and to proactively address fraud, corruption, and compliance risks.

To explore hidden fraud risks across your supply chain in light of real cases and international data, download our whitepaper now: