Marketing expense fraud detection at a major consumer goods company
Anonymised case · Professional reference
Background and challenges
A well-known consumer goods company had long invested heavily in offline channel promotions. Internal audits found a rising proportion of irregular expense claims, while traditional sampling could not reliably identify fraud patterns across large volumes of documents. The company needed an intelligent solution to monitor data systematically and proactively identify leads.
Approach and implementation
The project team deployed a fraud investigation and analysis support system, combining historical expense claims, POS transactions, event locations, personnel information and event photographs. Risk models examined transaction anomalies across time and location, duplicated or manipulated images, and relationship networks. Automated monitoring produced regular high-risk lead reports and visual analyses, helping audit and risk teams shift from manual searches to data-led detection.
Outcomes
Soon after deployment, the system identified several suppliers suspected of collusion and employees suspected of misconduct, maintaining a high rate of accurate leads. Direct losses recovered during the period reached several million yuan. The company moved from retrospective sample audits to comprehensive data monitoring and intelligent risk alerts.
Lessons for international cooperation and governance
The approach can extend to cross-border promotions and overseas distributor expenses, offering transferable experience in preserving electronic evidence across jurisdictions, compliant data exchange and international anti-fraud cooperation.