Identifying identical balance sheets

Ever more determined to fight fraud, Meelo is striking hard with a brand new feature: the detection of identical balance sheets. Thanks to this highly innovative and efficient tool, it is now possible to identify cases of usurpation of financial balance sheets in real time. Often used to create ghost businesses for fraudulent purposes, copying balance sheets represents a growing part of financial scams, especially in the car finance sector. Faced with increasingly organized fraudsters, the detection of identical balance sheets is essential as a key lever for securing financial transactions in B2B.

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Fraud with identical balance sheets: a threat not to be overlooked

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What is an identical balance sheet?

We are talking about Identical balance sheet when two separate companies publish financial statements presenting exactly the same accounting data, in particular at the balance sheet level: asset and liability items, turnover, net income, etc.

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These similarities are rarely due to chance: they are the sign of organized fraud. In this type of arrangement, either a fictional company copies the balance sheet of another to give itself the appearance of solvency and financial stability, or the same fraudster duplicates a balance sheet on several “clone” companies in order to multiply requests for financing or leasing or loans that they never intend to repay.

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Very common in B2B, this scam particularly affects the sectors of car financing, leasing (car, equipment or equipment, etc.) or professional loans. By presenting artificially solid balance sheets, fraudsters seek to gain the trust of funders or renters. A healthy balance sheet seems reassuring.

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However, behind this facade, there is no tangible economic reality. Structures are just empty shells. Their aim? Quickly recover cash or equipment before disappearing or declaring insolvent. When fraud is orchestrated on a large scale, the creation of these fictional businesses in large numbers allows fraudsters to solicit several establishments at the same time, thus increasing the risk of widespread default.

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Why are identical balance sheets so difficult to detect?

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La fraud with identical balance sheets Take advantage of the flaws in the bank deposit system. Today, when a company files for bankruptcy, no rigorous verification is carried out. Neither on the coherence of the document, nor on its authenticity. As a result, fraudsters can, without much difficulty, falsify or copy a balance sheet and file it with the registry office without arousing the slightest suspicion.

Since these false balance sheets are officially filed, they are analyzed by financial quotation companies such as Altares, Creditsafe or Ellisphère. Based on published data, they attribute favorable financial indicators to fraudulent companies. Thus, a fictitious company may appear to be reliable and solvent, even though it does not exist or its balance sheet is totally usurped.

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This practice raises issues in terms of automated detection and risk control. If the Identical balance sheets pass under the radar of conventional warning systems, this is often due to a lack of data cross-referencing. Indeed, as long as you look at businesses in isolation, everything seems normal. Only by comparing financial data can fraud be detected.

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The problem is that this process, in addition to being long and tedious, is almost impossible to do without the right tools. This allows scammers to multiply requests for financing by relying on falsified accounting data, made credible by their filing at the registry office.

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The development of data analysis and artificial intelligence technologies would make it possible to identify these anomalies more effectively, but their use is still too marginal in view of the scale of possible fraud. In the meantime, fraudsters stay ahead of the curve.

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Meelo redefines the standards in the fight against financial fraud

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How does the Meelo identical balance sheet alert work?

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Based on artificial intelligence algorithms, this tool is a first on the B2B anti-fraud market.

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Innovative and reliable, the detection of identical balance sheets identifies, automatically and instantaneously, the case where two companies, although distinct, present strictly identical balance sheets. This ability makes it possible to unmask networks of fraudsters who use the same falsified balance sheets in several companies.

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Beyond its alert role, the feature also detects unintended errors in filing with the registry office in order to help differentiate fraud from confusion, sometimes legitimate, between related companies (such as a parent company and its subsidiary).

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A decisive impact in the fight against fraud in B2B

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Thanks to its automated analysis system, Meelo identifies sophisticated patterns of financial fraud in seconds, where a manual check would take hours or even be ineffective. This is a major advance in the detection of large-scale scams that makes it possible to update fraudulent arrangements from the start and thus avoid major financial losses.

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Much more than a simple compliance tool in the context of award decisions, the Functionality: identical balance sheets is a real shield against financial risks. By identifying the copied balance sheets From the start of the process, Meelo secures transactions, maintains the reputation of the players concerned and strengthens trust between business partners.

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With its unique feature of detection of identical balance sheets, Meelo offers a concrete, rapid and preventive response to the most sophisticated types of fraud.

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