Fraud

Fraud comes in many forms: criminals have a variety of ways to impersonate and deceive charities to perpetrate fraud, and staff within the charity can also be the source of fraud. And, new technologies are helping criminals to find ways to attack charities and steal their resources.

The good news is that active measures to combat fraud within 12 months can reduce losses to fraud by 40%. This means that there is plenty of scope for charities to better protect their resources and exploring this section can show you how to get started.

 

Finance Focus July 2021
29 July 2021
Inclusivity - why does it matter to finance professionals? We speak to charity leaders this month about equality, diversity and inclusivity (EDI). We also meet a small member charity - Jodie ...

Finance Focus October 2020
23 October 2020
Welcome to the October 2020 edition of Finance Focus. Issues covered inside: Mental health; fraud; audits; training; Brexit and much more!

Finance Focus September
22 September 2020
Let's raise our voice to raise Gift Aid!

Finance Focus Oct 2019
21 October 2019
Risk management in action 1.0.0.20

Impact of money laundering and counter-terrorism regulations on charities
1 March 2018

The Charities Counter Fraud Checklist
28 March 2017
Charity Finance Group has produced The Charities Counter Fraud Checklist. This checklist is designed to help charities to establish (or strengthen) their counter-fraud policy. The checklist asks ten essential questions ...

The Small Charities Guide to Preventing Fraud
1 March 2017
Charity Finance Group (CFG) has launched a guide to help small charities counter fraud. The guide, The Small Charities Guide to Preventing Fraud looks at measures that charities can put ...

Countering Fraud: A guide for the UK charity sector
1 March 2016
Charity Finance Group (CFG) and PKF Littlejohnhave launched a new guide to help charities proactively counter fraud. This guide will help finance professionals and trustees to identify areas for improvement ...

Avoiding Cheque Fraud
11 March 2014
The Cheque and Credit Clearing Company (C&CCC) has published a new fraud prevention guide to help charities safeguard themselves from fraud when paying by cheque.

World Vision UK - Anti-Money Laundering Policy
28 October 2011
World Vision UK's policy on Anti-Money Laundering

World Vision UK - Policy Statement on Bribery
31 July 2011
World Vision UK's policy statement on bribery.

The Resilience to Fraud of the UK Charity Sector
14 May 2011
This Report considers how well the UK Charity Sector protects itself against fraud.

World Vision UK - Anti-Fraud Policy
13 May 2011
This policy sets out WVUK’s attitude to fraud, explains its nature and allocates responsibilities for prevention and reporting of both actual and attempted incidences.

BRCS Anti-fraud and Corruption Policy
9 December 2009
The document outlines how BRCS identifies and responds to fraud and corruption, including advice on working with partner organisations and reporting duties for staff members.

Fraud Response Plan
9 December 2009
Features detailed guidance on how to uncover and respond to fraud. Detailed breakdown of immediate action, chain of command, planning and preparation and appropriate responses from management.

Authority Limits
2 October 2009
This policy names the Directors and Managers who have the authority to purchase goods and services and/or to make payments on the charity’s behalf.

Fraud - Prevention Better Than Cure
1 March 2000
Sets out the definition and the basic internal controls which should be in place to prevent the occurrence of fraud within a charity.

The Small Charities Guide to Preventing Fraud
21 June 2017
Charity Finance Group (CFG) has launched a guide to help small charities counter fraud. The guide, The Small Charities Guide to Preventing Fraud looks at measures that charities can put ...

HMRC issues guidance on avoiding cyber and phone scams
21 September 2021
Online scams increase two-fold during Covid.

Now, more than ever, it pays to be fraud aware
19 October 2020
It's the start of Fraud Awareness Week! Claire Parris from the Charity Commission, explains why it pays to be fraud aware.

Charities – Changes to Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
24 February 2020
By Stephen Cole, Senior Associate at Hewitsons LLP 1.0.0.20 1.0.0.20

Regulation needed to protect customers
30 October 2019
By Alanna Patterson, Head Energy Specialist from Utility Aid 1.0.0.20

Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2019
21 October 2019
By Alan Bryce, Head of Development, Counter Fraud & Cybercrime at Charity Commission for England & Wales 1.0.0.20

OSSIG roundup: The link between fraud, bullying, and safeguarding
24 July 2019
By David Ainsworth, Sector Specialist, CFG   If you have a problem with fraud, are you more likely to have a problem with safeguarding? The experts seem to think the ...

Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018 - Charity Fraud Out
22 October 2018
Alan Bryce of the Charity Commission talks about what’s in store for Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2018, and what you and your charity can to do get involved in this ...

Review: Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing Report - Extremism in Charities
1 March 2018
Yesterday the Henry Jackson Society through its Centre for the Response to Radicalisation and Terrorism released a report on “How Islamist Extremists exploit the UK Charitable Sector.” 

What makes your charity attractive to fraudsters?
27 October 2017
Paul Ridout of IBB Solicitors looks at what makes charities a target for fraudsters. 

Beware of snake oil pensions salesman
20 October 2017
Beware of scammers dipping into your pension says David Davidson of Spence and Partners'. Know what to look out for and remember, if it seems too good to be true it ...

How safe is your charity from cybercrime?
20 October 2017
John Baker of Moore Stephens looks at what charities need to do to reduce their risks of becoming a victim of fraud. Cybercrime, including deviant phishing scams, ransomware, and mandate ...

'Collecting bucket' fraud becomes more sophisticated
20 October 2017
 John Tranter, a CFG trustee explores how charities can communicate with their donors to help them avoid falling victim to these scams, and shares a case of how easily it ...

Reflections on how organisations can implement new ways of thinking to combat fraud
20 October 2017
Following the development of new mitigation framework, Amnesty International’s Pascale Nicholls, reflects on how the organisation implemented new ways of thinking and working in relation to bribery, corruption and fraud. ...

6 simple steps your charity can take to help protect themselves from fundraising fraud
25 September 2017
Fundraising fraud is where a fraudster (who might be known) collects money on behalf of the charity but keeps some or all of the money and can be difficult for ...

Do I need a fraud response plan?
25 September 2017

Fraud and the 3 C's
25 September 2017
Throughout CFG’s Counter Fraud Campaign we have talked a lot about establishing controls, culture and communications, or the 3 C’s. It is important to also think about how these 3 ...

What can charities learn from the recent fraud cases?
27 July 2017
Unfortunately this week there have been two high profile cases of fraud being committed within a charity.

CFG launches Counter Fraud Campaign
12 July 2017

Celebrating small charities
21 June 2017

What can charities learn from the international cyber attack?
16 May 2017
Following the widely reported cyber-attack over the weekend on the NHS, and over 300,000 computers in 150 countries, it is important to look at what charities can learn from this ...

Responsible Record Keeping: what do voluntary organisations need to know?
31 January 2017
In this guest blog, Dr Charlotte Clements, Research Assistant on the British Academy project ‘Digitising the Mixed Economy of Welfare’, writes about the need for charities to have good archives ...

Let's talk about the F-word
28 October 2016
So what do we mean when we say the ‘F’ word? Are we talking about watching Gordon Ramsay shout at helpless cooks for an hour or two on the TV? ...

EU Referendum: What could this mean for charities?
6 June 2016
As the 23rd June appears closer and closer this Europe's Final Countdown song has never felt more relevant as the UK public decides whether they will be voting to remain ...

Friday Afternoon Fraud
13 May 2016

What did the Romans ever know about data protection?
19 January 2016
As usual, quite a lot. Caesar famously used his cipher device to protect important and sensitive military data among his generals. So what can we learn from the famous Roman?

Be prepared: preventing fraud in charities
1 June 2015
This guest blog from Sayer Vincent considers some of the most common types of fraud in charities and how they can be prevented.

Bottomline Technologies Ltd
Bottomline Technologies (NASDAQ: EPAY) helps make complex business payments simple, smart and secure. Corporations and banks rely on Bottomline for domestic and international payments, efficient cash management, automated workflows for ...

Ecclesiastical Insurance
Ecclesiastical has been helping and protecting not-for-profit organisations for 125 years. The fact we’re owned by a charity and give a large proportion to our profit to charity only adds ...

Emailage
The UK charity sector loses approximately £1.65 Billion per year to fraud – according to the Centre for Fraud Studies at Portsmouth University and BDO. Our mission is to help ...

haysmacintyre
haysmacintyre is an award winning firm of chartered accountants and tax advisors, with 35 partners and over 300 staff. Our award winning charities and not for profit team is one ...

PIB Insurance Brokers
PIB Insurance Brokers Limited specialise in providing insurance and risk management advice to charities. We have a long history of delivering cost effective solutions and now act for a significant ...

WRS Insurance Brokers Limited
Are you looking for help and support with your charities risk issues? If so let Chris Chapman and his team come and listen to you and understand your needs.