Embezzling is the act of taking money that has been placed in your trust but belongs to another person. For instance, someone who works in a bank may secretly steal money that he or she has been entrusted to look after. This money belongs to the bank's customers, and the employee's action can be considered embezzling.

One of the biggest factors in embezzling is that the embezzler is in a position of trust with someone else's money. Therefore, no trespassing is necessary for the theft to take place. There have been many cases of embezzlement, and usually, sooner or later, the embezzler is caught out. This usually happens when the embezzler becomes greedy and raises the stake of embezzlement. Sometimes, financial audits bring discrepancies in the accounts to light.

Embezzling is a worldwide problem for companies. Shops, banks, corporations and charities are well aware of the problem and take the issue very seriously. Embezzlement often involves large sums of money and is considered a felony in most countries. Embezzlement can range from a few dollars to millions, and the methods used can be as simple as taking money from a cashier's till or as sophisticated as computer crime. If postal workers steal letters, it can considered embezzling.

One of the major methods used in embezzling is to falsify records and documents. A recent British case involved a bank manager embezzling 23 million GB pounds (GBP). The bank manager set up many false bank accounts and deposited millions from other bank accounts into them.

Another very successful method of falsifying records is the phantom employee. The manager may create a job role and documents for an employee who does not actually exist. The phantom employee is then paid a salary. This method should be uncovered by annual audits, but sometimes, the audit is not thorough enough to catch the crime.

A number of warning signs can suggest embezzling. It is a major cause of concern if an employee suddenly has a jump in his or her standard of living with no extra income to explain it. There may be a sudden drop in company profits, or the company’s financial records may become very disorganized. If accounts or documents inexplicably go missing, especially around audit time, then it may be worth investigating.

No one is safe from embezzling. There have been cases of huge amounts of money disappearing from charities. There have been numerous reports of misdirected funds or of very small portions of the funds collected reaching the charity. One of the most common methods used in these cases is to redirect large amounts of money for administrative purposes. Sadly, many worthwhile charities have been shut down as a result of this type of embezzling.