False medical status, theft of points or Inspire rewards, false refunds at branch checkouts… The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) has fired 26 employees for fraud over the last five years, we have learned The newspaper.
“Our customers have not suffered any harm as a result of these events,” assured Daniel Collette, deputy information manager, in response to an access request from the Journal.
Last Thursday, Le Journal reported that Revenu Québec had fired seven of its own employees for fraud in just under five years. However, the SAQ must also take action against employees who cheat them, Le Journal noted.
In total, more than 26 employees have been laid off by the SAQ over the past five years for a total cost of $23,035.
Inspire points flights
Last year alone, 10 workers were laid off. This is more than in 2020-2021 (4), 2019-2020 (7) and 2018-2019 (5). (See table at the end.)
“Examples of fraud include reporting false health status, attempting to hoard points or rewards as part of our Inspire program, or making false refunds at our store checkouts,” explains Daniel Collette, according to the national group.
According to cybersecurity trainer Emeline Manson, the figure of 26 layoffs in five years is “not that huge.”
Emeline Manson photo courtesy
“On the other hand, I think there are big fluctuations from year to year. It would have been less worrying to see five a year,” she commented.
“We raise a lot of awareness about external fraud, but internal fraud is actually forgotten, and the internal teams that might be watching it are barely aware of it,” she analyzed.
The SAQ defends itself
Interviewed by Le Journal, the SAQ was quick to point out that it employs 7,200 people in Quebec and had sales of $4 billion in the last fiscal year.
“The number of frauds committed and the amounts involved must therefore be put into perspective taking into account the size of the SAQ and the nature of its activities,” replied its spokeswoman Geneviève Cormier.
“The SAQ has an experienced and efficient team dedicated to safety. It uses various means and techniques to detect problematic cases and we believe we are doing what is necessary to counteract this phenomenon,” she concluded.
Table provided by SAQ
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