How can you tell if one of your employees has committed fraud, and is currently considering covering up their misdeeds? According to a new study published by accounting firm Ernst & Young, apparently you can start by searching for the phrase “cover up.” No, really. Here are the top 15 phrases:
- Cover up
- Write off
- Illegal
- Failed investment
- Nobody will find out
- Grey area
- They owe it to me
- Do not volunteer information
- Not ethical
- Off the books
- Backdate
- No inspection
- Pull earnings forward
- Special fees
- Friendly payments
I thought this was fake until I saw Ernst & Young’s name pop up eleven times on Wikipedia’s article about accounting scandals. They must be experts at this kind of thing. Via Quartz.