Insider Finance - Business - Get ready for a wave of fraud

Hello, Insiders. Today I want to reflect on one of my favorite developments in our economy over the past decade or so: the different ways enterprising people are cobbling together incomes to create real alternatives to traditional careers. My brother, for example, never enjoyed the office setting. Today he’s making a nice living as a photographer, driving a fancy Uber, and renting out his other cars via Turo.

What else are people doing? Vending machines, for one, are seeing a surge in popularity as passive businesses. People are also working as virtual assistants and cleaning homes — a millennial founder booked $150,000 in revenue last year that way. There’s one 29-year-old who makes about $218,000 a month from side hustles and says it’s possible to make a ton of money without putting much down.

So I want to hear from you: Do you have a side hustle or passive-income business? Share your story: insidertoday@insider.com. But now, the news.

— Nicholas Carlson

Sam Bankman-Fried was just the start — the Great Fraud Reckoning is upon us. 

Get ready for what will feel like an inescapable wave of corporate fraud, Insider’s Linette Lopez warns.

Financial conditions are tightening after years of an intensely hot stock market. But now the economy is slowing. The stock market is sliding. And cash is getting harder to come by. This is putting pressure on corporate balance sheets — tempting executives to cheat to meet Wall Street's expectations. And if history is any guide, the biggest scams are yet to come.

The risk of running into companies that have moved from funk to fraud gets higher the longer financial conditions remain tight, according to a former SEC accountant (who’s now a partner at a firm that works with clients facing allegations of fraud).

"I think we're going to be very busy this year," he said.