Maliti, Paul2010-06-022010-06-022003Maliti, P. (2003). Fraud and SMEs in Namibia: Cultural reflections. Paper presented at the International Conference on Entrepreneurship, 17-18 September 2003, Windhoek Namibia. Windhoek: NUST.http://hdl.handle.net/10628/149International Conference on Entrepreneurship (2003 Sep. 17-18 : Windhoek, Namibia)Fraud comprises both the use of deception to obtain an unjust or illegal financial advantage, and intentional misrepresentation affecting financial statements. Fraud is motivated by many factors, the main one being the greed in man or egoism. Many organisations tend to regard fraud as an external threat, committed by external criminal gangs against the organization (e.g. the common cheque and credit card frauds), instead of concentrating on internal threat, i.e. fraud committed by management and employees or conspiracies between internal and external forces. This paper discusses fraud in Namibia in relation to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The survey is confined to items as reported in the press since obtaining information from either the victims or the fraudsters not only requires funding (which is not readily available) but is also a very difficult task indeed. The analysis is therefore on the following lines: Types of fraud; Motivation for fraud; Methods used; Types of victims; Types of fraudsters; and Amounts involved, wherever possible to quantify. The paper concludes by indicating common areas of weakness while recommending: Possible protective measures and; Areas for future research.enEntrepreneurship Conference, 2003, WindhoekFraud - NamibiaCommercial crimes - NamibiaSmall and medium enterprises - NamibiaSMEs - NamibiaConferences and workshopsArticle