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International Fraud Awareness Week
November 9, 2020
SAFE are proud to support International Fraud Awareness Week (IFAW) #fraudweek and the global effort to minimise the impact of fraud by promoting anti-fraud awareness and education.
Fraud costs the UK economy in excess of £100bn a year and in 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic has provided new opportunities for criminals to defraud you and your business.
As part of #fraudweek we've put together a toolkit of anti-fraud resources for businesses and individuals.
Organisations
We've created a series of fraud prevention quick guides to help protect your business from common types of fraud.
- COVID-19 Fraud Prevention Advice for Businesses
- CEO Fraud Prevention Quick Guide
- Brexit Fraud Risks - EU Settlement Scheme
- DMARC - Protect your business from email fraud with this free tool from the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA).
Individuals
- Can you outsmart the fraudsters? Put your ability to spot a scam to the test with this quick quiz from Take Five to Stop Fraud.
- This short video from Take Five to Stop Fraud offers advice on protecting your money and personal information from fraud.
- Keep yourself and your family secure online during coronavirus by following the governments Cyber Aware advice.
- Quad9 - is a free security solution from the Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) that uses DNS to protect your system against the most common cyber threats, it's also available as an app (search Quad9 in your app store).
Contact us to find out how our team of experienced Accredited Counter Fraud Specialists can help protect your organisation from financial crime.
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When Sarah Whitaker approached an introductory care agency to find a carer for her 89 year old father she expected they would refer a suitably qualified and professional carer. Instead, Sarah was 'horrified' to discover that an unqualified imposter had been in her fathers home for almost three weeks! Unfortunately Sarah's story, reported by Sky News , is not as uncommon as one might expect. In January 2024, a man admitted impersonating a nurse and accessing resuscitation and children's areas at a hospital in Glasgow (BBC News) . SAFE has experience of dealing with a number of similar cases where an unqualified imposter had been found to be working in place of the qualified professional that was expected.
International Fraud Awareness Week (IFAW) 2024 takes place from 17-23 November, and SAFE continues to support this global effort to minimise the impact of fraud by promoting anti-fraud awareness and education. Fraud and cybercrime account for over 40% of all 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. So don’t wait until #fraudweek to become a fraud fighter!
According to data from Action Fraud, the national fraud and cybercrime reporting service, more than 33,000 people had their social media or email accounts hacked in the 12 months to August 2024, and victims lost a total of £1.4 million. Fraud is now the most commonly experienced crime in the UK, with 1 in 17 adults falling victim to fraudsters. The National Fraud Intelligence Bureau indicate that 80% of fraud is cyber-enabled. October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, an international initiative that aims to educate everyone about cyber safety. To mark the event, Action Fraud and NHS England have launched awareness campaigns to remind people that there are simple ways to protect themselves and our NHS from online threats.
