ZAGREB, 16 April (Hina) - Asset misappropriation (57%) and bribery and corruption (24%) remain the most common types of financial fraud in Croatia, while median losses per case have risen from €100,000 to €150,000, a new study shows.
The study by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Croatia (ACFE Croatia), supported by EY Croatia, found perpetrators are increasingly acting in groups compared with 2022, while more organisations are introducing control measures after fraud is detected.
Within asset misappropriation, a shift is evident: cases involving cash fell from 84% to 57%, while theft of physical assets such as inventory and equipment rose from 31% to 52%, pointing to weaker oversight of tangible assets.
"Data clearly show that traditional forms of fraud still dominate, but their financial impact is growing. The rise in median losses to €150,000 is particularly concerning, indicating more sophisticated and organised patterns. Organisations must strengthen internal controls and risk management to detect and prevent fraud in time," said ACFE Croatia president Ivan Kovačević.
He added that bribery and corruption, while still the second most common type, declined from 31% to 24%, possibly reflecting stronger regulation, compliance systems and greater sensitivity to ethical standards.
Cyber fraud remained stable at 22%, accounting fraud at 16%, while procurement fraud fell to 16% from 22% in 2022. Overall, traditional fraud types continue to dominate, with digital and tech-enabled fraud maintaining a steady presence.
Some 21% of organisations reported incidents involving AI-generated content, while 18% suspected cases linked to fake messages, synthetic identities or AI-generated phishing emails.
Perpetrators are most often internal: executive management accounts for 44% of cases, followed by operational departments (30%), accounting and finance (13%), and sales and marketing (9%).
The most common warning sign is living beyond one’s means, followed by control issues and reluctance to share duties (22%), irritability and defensiveness (17%), refusal to take leave (17%), and financial difficulties (13%).
Key causes of fraud remain the lack of internal controls (23%) and the circumvention of existing controls (21%), followed by low awareness (19%), pressure to meet financial targets (15%), employee collusion (13%) and organisational culture (10%).
