Tag: Charity Fraud Awareness Week

Lothian charities encouraged to safeguard donations and resources during Fraud Awareness Week

With Charity Fraud Awareness Week taking place between 27th November and 1st December, Ansvar, a leading specialist insurer for the charity, not-for-profit and faith sectors, is raising awareness about how organisations across The Lothians can be proactive to protect their assets, reputation, and beneficiaries.

The week serves as a vital initiative to promote understanding about the serious issue of fraud within the charitable sector. From deceptive grant applications to cyber-attacks, and individuals posing as suppliers with ill intentions, fraudulent activities can severely impact resources and reputations.

Sam Ward, Risk & Compliance Consultant at Ansvar, commented: “Charities and not-for-profit organisations play a crucial role in our society and must protect themselves against the nefarious tactics of fraudsters. Preventing charity fraud is not only about protecting financial assets but also maintains the crucial trust needed for the ongoing support of the public and donors.

“Charity Fraud Awareness Week serves as a timely reminder to be vigilant and take proactive steps to preserve valuable resources. We are supporting the work it does to raise awareness and highlight good practice. By providing practical information, we can help charitable organisations protect their assets and continue to make a difference.”

Ansvar’s key strategies that charities and not-for-profit organisations can implement to help protect themselves against fraud are:

Protect assets: Safeguarding physical cash and securing online transactions are paramount. Be aware of the risks in terms of financial transactions and implement strong internal controls to mitigate those risks.

Screen personnel: Ensure the right people are on board, from employees to suppliers. Implement comprehensive vetting procedures for staff and suppliers to identify potential risks.

Train staff: Educate staff about the tell-tale signs of fraud, such as common spelling errors in communication, unusual communication tones, or unexpected urgent requests from unknown sources.

Regularly assess risks: Conduct risk assessments to identify vulnerable areas within an organisation. Knowing where potential risks lie allows charities to implement safeguards and allocate responsibilities appropriately. Multiple individuals should oversee high-risk areas, such as finances, to create a robust system of checks and balances. Ansvar’s online risk assessment guide for charities may help.

Have adequate insurance: Having the right insurance is crucial. Ensure a policy covers the specific risks an organisation faces and be aware of any exclusions.

Ansvar’s Sam Ward explains: “Your insurance broker will be able to help you find the right policy for your specific needs. If you have any doubts, do not hesitate to seek their guidance.”

Cyber-attacks are also a growing concern for charitable organisations. The increasing sophistication of cyber threats makes it challenging to differentiate between legitimate and malicious communications, especially without proper training and processes in place. Charities must invest in cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data and maintain the trust of their donors.

Sam Ward underscores the importance of these measures:

“Fraud, including cyber-attacks, is a very real threat. Charity Fraud Awareness Week is a reminder for charities to fortify their defences against deceptive activities, and we are encouraging charitable and not-for-profit organisations to take proactive measures to protect themselves.

“By implementing practical steps, charities can continue their invaluable work and ensure that funds entrusted to them are used for their intended purposes.”

Charities at risk of ‘underestimating’ online fraud as one in eight experienced cybercrime last year

The Charity Commission is warning charities against the risk of online fraud, as a new survey found around one in eight charities (12%) had experienced cybercrime in the previous 12 months.

This follows earlier findings indicating that the pandemic prompted increasing numbers of charities to move to digital fundraising and operating, exposing them to the risk of cybercrime.

Most concerningly, the survey highlighted a potential lack of awareness of the risks facing charities online, with just over 24% having a formal policy in place to manage the risk. Similarly, only around half (55%) of charities reported that cyber security was a fairly or very high priority in their organisation.

The warning comes ahead of Charity Fraud Awareness Week, which begins tomorrow on 17th October 2022. The campaign raises awareness of fraud and cybercrime and brings the charity sector together to share knowledge, expertise and good practice.

It is run by the Charity Commission and the Fraud Advisory Panel and a partnership of charities, NGOs, regulators, law enforcers, and other not-for-profit stakeholders.

The Charity Commission’s new survey explored charities’ experiences of online cyber-attack. It found that over half of charities (51%) held electronic records on their customers, while 37% enabled people to donate online.

A greater digital footprint increases a charity’s vulnerability.

The most common types of attacks experienced were phishing and impersonation (where others impersonate the organization in emails or online). For both attacks personal data is often at risk.

There are lots of simple steps that can be taken to protect against cyber harms including changing passwords regularly, using strong passwords and two factor authentication, updating training and policies, making back-ups of your data using the cloud and making sure antivirus and all other software is patched to the latest version.

Many useful tools and resources will be available to help charities reduce their vulnerability to these crimes throughout Charity Fraud Awareness Week.

The survey also confirmed that there is an under-reporting of incidents when they do occur, with only a third (34%) of affected charities reporting breaches. It’s important that charities get in touch with the Commission where there has been a serious incident, even where there may be no regulatory role for the Commission. This helps the regulator to identify trends and patterns and help prevent others from falling victim to fraud.

Amie McWilliam-Reynolds, Assistant Director Intelligence and Tasking, from the Charity Commission said: “Online financial transactions, and online working generally, present a great opportunity for charities – whether in engaging supporters, raising funds, and streamlining their operations.

“This was demonstrated in particular during the pandemic, when the longer-term move away from cash to online fundraising accelerated. But online financial transactions and the collection and storage of personal data also harbour risk, and we are concerned that some charities may be underestimating that risk, and are therefore exposing their charity to potential fraud.

“We hope that projects like Charity Fraud Awareness Week help raise awareness among trustees and charity staff of the risks they may face, and of the advice and guidance available to support them in protecting their charity from fraud.

“Preventing and tackling fraud is not a ‘nice to have’. It is vital that every penny given to charity makes a positive difference, especially during these straitened times, when donors, charities, and those they support face mounting financial pressures.

Sir David Green CB KC from the Fraud Advisory Panel said: “Fraud is the UK’s most commonly experienced crime and much of it is committed online. Therefore, it is essential that charities take the security of their systems, information, people and money seriously.

“Simple cyber security measures can make a big difference which is why we’ve collaborated with UK police forces to offer a series of free cyber-security focussed events during this year’s awareness week.”

Charity Fraud Awareness Week 2022 will feature online events, talks and useful advice from anti-fraud experts, designed to help the third sector and charitable organisations tackle the problem of fraud and cybercrime.

Police warning over telephone bank fraud

Police Scotland is urging members of the public to be vigilant following recent reports of telephone banking fraud.

This week alone, officers in Edinburgh were made aware of three separate incidents on the 21, 22 and 24 September, 2020, where five figure sums of money were stolen from bank accounts.

In each of these cases, the victims reported that they received telephone calls from someone with a local accent, claiming to be from the fraud team of their local bank branch and who appeared to be calling from a genuine bank telephone number.

The caller then asked the person to transfer funds into a separate account which appears to be operated by the fraudsters.

PC Greig Stephen, of the Prevention, Intervention and Partnerships team in Edinburgh, said: “Those targeted by these incidents have been left shaken by what has happened and I would urge everyone to be wary of any online or telephone scams that are related to finances.

“If you are speaking to someone on the phone, please do not give them any personal information or bank details, even if they seem to know some of your details already.

“Many fraudsters use advanced techniques to make them appear genuine and it is important to remember that your bank would never ask you to transfer money to another account.

“I would advise anyone who receives a call like this to politely hang up and contact their bank directly to discuss any irregularities surrounding their bank account.

“If anyone has concerns surrounding this type of incident or has received a call of a similar nature, I would ask that you contact police on 101.”

For further advice on keeping safe, please visit Police Scotland’s website – https://www.scotland.police.uk/…/identity-theft-fraud….