Ten Point Plan to combat Economic Crime

The aim of the ESFF is to promote fraud awareness and successful fraud prevention strategies across both public and private sector regions and we work closely with our colleagues in the other regional Fraud Forums to achieve this.  Frank Nesbitt of the North East Fraud Forum has designed the following Ten Point Plan to help prevent your organisation from becoming a victim of Economic Crime.

1. Have in place an anti-fraud policy which is easy to understand and circulated amongst all employees of your organisation.  Maintain a momentum.
2. Have a nominated individual or team within your organisation who is responsible for all fraud issues, risk management and investigations.
3. Promote systems within your organization to detect fraud.  Dip sample systems.
4. Adopt appropriate controls and have in place a fraud response plan.
5. Consider fraud as a business risk, take it seriously.  Focus on prevention.
6. Provide fraud awareness training for all, ensuring an alertness to the indication of fraud.
7. Install an effective ‘whistleblowing’ policy.  Reward efficiency and reduction in losses.
8. Don’t recruit fraudsters in the first place, know your customer/client/employee.
9. Involve and seek advice from your Economic Crime Unit (Specialist Fraud Unit) right from the outset and/or detection of a fraud.
10. Be tough, punish offenders.

Further reading:

• Ten Point Plan to combat Identity Fraud
• Ten Point Plan to combat Long Firm Fraud