The Overlooked Element in Anti-Fraud Strategies

During International Fraud Awareness Week 2024, we asked our expert speakers a series of questions to get their insights Counter Fraud. This blog looks at what they think is the most overlooked element in a robust anti-fraud strategy. Find out what the experts in the sector are thinking! 

 Jeremy Asher, Director at Financial Fraud Awareness Campaign

People are the weakest link. If they are untrained and therefore naïve about the risks of unwittingly becoming involved in money laundering, they create an exponential risk to their employers or their own businesses. Much anti-laundering training to staff is online, tick-box and generic. Staff tend to go through the motions to pass the test without really thinking about the issues. That sort of online training is better than nothing, but not as good as face-to-face training provided by counter fraud professionals who can work through case examples, answer questions and concerns, and if necessary, signpost to further training or support. There is too much emphasis on organisations demonstrating that they have gone through the motions, not enough on the quality of the training that is provided.

 Joshua Reddaway, Director at National Audit Office

Action. Some of the anti-fraud strategies that we see are reactive and about what the organisation will do when they come across a fraud. A clear warning flag is when they say they “have a zero tolerance for fraud”, but do not set out how they intend to go about preventing or detecting fraud. Such strategies then become tick box exercises, enabling the organisation to say “yes we have a counter fraud strategy”. So I would say the most overlooked element in a robust anti-fraud strategy is the action necessary to embed fraud prevention into projects and programmes, to measure the level of fraud and error across the organisation, and to undertake the fraud risk management cycle.

 Lavinia Ferguson Dean, Membership Manager at NAFN

Many strategies, although robust, overlook or underestimate the Insider Threat. More often we are seeing cases of polygamous employment, long-standing employees facing hardship and turning to crime or even those in positions of authority making spurious decisions without any oversight. A truly robust strategy will include the insider threat and ensure appropriate measures are in place to mitigate the threat. 

 Mark Button, Director, Centre for Counter Fraud Studies University of Portsmouth

 

Tackling overseas based fraudsters and helping SMEs to tackle fraud. 

 Neil Charnock, Deputy Director: FIS Professionalism at HMRC

The view from myself and some close colleagues I discussed this with was that there isn’t one single ‘most overlooked’ element per se but a likely number which usually crop up, any of which, if overlooked, can undermine the best planned strategy. These include:
- The importance of baselining the starting position to measure future progress against.
- Establishing “what good looks like” and then having a measures framework in place to record outcomes, rather than outputs
- Ensuring that all functions/units/levels across the workforce have some level of accountability for counter-fraud activity.
- The importance of stakeholder and non-stakeholder partnerships outside of an immediate organisation.
- The need for a robust recruitment and retention approach.
- The importance of legal support and advice in every aspect of counter-fraud work.

Philip Juhasz, Senior Counter Fraud Officer at Shared Anti-Fraud Service, Hertfordshire County Council

 

In my opinion, an anti-fraud strategy that overlooks staff training and awareness cannot be considered robust, however I consider this to one of the most overlooked elements of what might otherwise be considered a robust strategy.
Empowering staff with counter fraud training and awareness fosters a positive anti-fraud culture and equips staff with the skills to identify and prevent fraud threats. Additionally, there is a fraud reporting function, increased awareness it is likely to boost referral rates of suspected fraud, thereby assisting to reduce ongoing losses through timely disruption and investigation.   

Ruth Ray, Director of Data at CIFAS

Outcomes data – gathering and incorporating outcomes data into your tools is imperative to your strategy, enabling you to evaluate the effectiveness of the rules you’ve implemented, honing your resourcing model and reducing false positives. Sharing outcomes also gives those teams making referrals a boost!

Want to hear more insights from our expert speakers? Join us for the Counter Fraud Conference on 12th March, 2025 at the QEII Centre, London. Complimentary tickets are available for the public sector. View the latest agenda and register below.