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SAFE helps to develop national fraud prevention material
Nov 23, 2022
In 2021, SAFE delivered an innovative mandate fraud prevention exercise at Dorset HealthCare. The exercise aimed to raise awareness of this type of fraud amongst suppliers to the NHS, in particular SME suppliers (small and medium-sized enterprises), to protect NHS resources from fraud losses.
A key element of the exercise was providing SME suppliers with fraud awareness and prevention material relating to password security and business email compromise, both enablers of mandate fraud.
As a result of our work at Dorset HealthCare, SAFE has been working with a Senior Fraud Prevention Officer from the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) to develop a national mandate fraud prevention resource pack for the NHS.
SAFE’s collaboration with NHSCFA has culminated in the publication of a blog post by Andy Knight, SAFE Head of Counter Fraud, on the NHSCFA Ngage portal. In the blog, Andy discusses the exercise and its success in reducing associated fraud risks and leading to a measured increase in fraud awareness.
Accredited Local Counter Fraud Specialists (LCFS), Directors of Finance, and Audit Committee Chairs nominated via NHSCFA can now access the
resource pack and the
blog post via the NHSCFA Ngage portal.
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In a world of 24/7 social media, and apps for everything from flights to coffee’s, oversharing personal information online affects more of us than we might think. Whether you’ve shared a seemingly innocent photo of your dog, a video of you supporting your favourite team, or you’ve unwittingly given away details of your banking or passport details, you could be revealing information that is invaluable to a fraudster or identity thief. There is increasing evidence that employee’s over-sharing personal information on social media platforms can enable or facilitate fraud against their employer; businesses like yours!
SAFE are proud to be in their seventh year as official supporters of International Fraud Awareness Week (IFAW) 2023. This years event takes place from 12-18 November but you don't need to wait until #fraudweek to be a fraud fighter. We've got lots of great tips and advice here and we'll add more as we approach #fraudweek so make sure you keep checking back here. Be sure to like and follow our LinkedIn and X accounts to stay up-to-date with the very latest fraud prevention advice. Fraud and cyber crime account for over 40% of all estimated crime in England and Wales, affecting more people, more often, than any other crime. The social and economic cost to individuals is estimated to be in excess of £4.7 billion a year. The more aware we all are about fraud, the less likely we are to fall victim to it.
53% of all fraud reports made directly to the NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHS CFA) in 2022-23 related to NHS staff fraud . The NHS CFA estimate that £22.5m of public money is vulnerable to fraud as a result. One particular type of NHS staff fraud that continues to persist is known as ‘working whilst sick’ fraud. This is where an employee is absent from their NHS position due to illness but starts working, or continues to work, for another employer. This type of fraud is not confined to the NHS, businesses across many different sectors will fall victim and suffer financial losses and associated costs as a result.
