Which of the following is NOT one of the four most common types of expense reimbursement schemes?

• A. Mischaracterized expenses
• B. Overstated expenses
• C. Fictitious expenses
• D. Timekeeping errors

Answer: (D)

The idea here is to recognize patterns of manipulation in submitting expenses for reimbursement. The typical ways fraudsters tamper with expense claims focus on what is claimed, how much is claimed, or whether a claim is legitimate at all. The four common patterns you’d expect to see are mischaracterized expenses (tagging personal or non-business costs as business expenses), overstated expenses (inflating the amount claimed), fictitious expenses (creating expenses for items that never occurred), and duplicate or double-submitted expenses (billing the same item more than once). Timekeeping errors, on the other hand, relate to inaccuracies in recording hours worked and are tied more to payroll or time tracking than to the manipulation of expense reimbursements. So timekeeping errors don’t fit into the typical expense reimbursement schemes, which is why that option is the one that doesn’t belong.