Identical balance sheet fraud: a threat not to neglect
What is an identical assessment?
We are talking about identical assessments when two separate companies publish financial statements with exactly the same accounting data, in particular at the balance sheet: active and liabilities, turnover, net profit, etc.
These similarities are rarely due to chance: they are a sign of organized fraud. In this type of assembly, either a fictitious company copies the assessment of another to give itself an appearance of solvency and financial stability, or the same fraudster duplicate an accounting assessment on several “clones” companies in order to multiply requests for financing or leasing or credits which they never intend to repay.
Very widespread in B2B , this scam particularly affects the sectors of automotive financing, leasing (automotive, equipment or equipment, etc.) or professional loans. By presenting artificially solid assessments, fraudsters seek to gain the confidence of funders or rental companies. A healthy assessment reassures.
However, behind this facade, there is no tangible economic reality. The structures are only empty shells. Their goal? Quickly recover liquidity or equipment before disappearing or declaring itself in cessation of payment. When fraud is orchestrated on a large scale, the creation in number of these fictitious companies allows fraudsters to request several establishments at the same time, thus increasing the risk of generalized payment default.
Why are identical balance sheets so difficult to detect?
The identical balance sheet fraud benefits from the faults of the account deposit system. Today, when a company files for bankruptcy, no rigorous verification is made. Neither on the consistency of the document, nor on its authenticity. Result: fraudsters can, without great difficulty, falsify or copy an assessment and deposit it with the transplant without awakening the slightest suspicion.
Since these false assessments are officially deposited, they are analyzed by companies of financial quotation such as Altares, Creditsafe or Ellisphere. Based on published data, they attribute favorable financial indicators to fraudulent companies. Thus, a fictitious company can appear to be reliable and solvent, even though it does not exist or that its assessment is completely usurped.
This practice raises issues in terms of automated detection and risk control. If the identical assessments pass under the radars of classic alert systems, it is often due to a lack of data crossing. Indeed, as long as companies are examined in isolation, everything seems normal. It is only by comparing financial data that fraud can be detected.
The problem is that this approach, in addition to being long and tedious, is almost impossible to perform without suitable tools. This allows crooks to multiply financing requests by relying on falsified accounting data, made credible by their deposit at the registry.
The development of data analysis technologies and artificial intelligence would make it possible to identify these anomalies more effectively, but their use is still too marginal in the face of the magnitude of possible fraud. In the meantime, fraudsters keep one step ahead.
Meelo redefines the standards of the fight against financial fraud
How does the alert the identical Meelo assessment work?
Based on artificial intelligence algorithms, this tool is a first in the antifraude B2B control market.
Innovative and reliable, the detection of identical balance sheets identifies, automatically and instantly, the case where two companies, however distinct, have strictly identical accounting balance sheets . This capacity makes it possible to unmask the networks of fraudsters which use the same falsified assessments in several companies.
Beyond its alert role, the functionality also detects involuntary errors in deposit in the registry in order to help differentiate a fraud of confusion, sometimes legitimate, between linked companies (like a parent company and its subsidiary).
A decisive impact in the fight against B2B fraud
Thanks to its automated analysis system, Meelo identifies the sophisticated financial fraud in a few seconds, where manual verification would take hours, or even would prove to be ineffective. It is a major advance in the detection of large -scale scams which makes it possible to update the fraudulent assemblies from the outset and thus avoid major financial losses.
Much more than just a tool for conformity in the context of granting decisions, the identical assessment functionality is a real shield against financial risks. By identifying the results copied from the start of the course, Meelo secures transactions, preserves the reputation of the actors concerned and strengthens confidence between business partners.
With its unique functionality of identical balance sheet detection , Meelo offers a concrete, rapid and preventive response to the most sophisticated fraud.
