Fraud Awareness Week: round up
A summary of activities from the first Charity Fraud Awareness Week.
![](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5dce6f2440f0b608ce37b5c0/s300_press_release_image_2018_colour.png)
Last week saw the inaugural Charity Fraud Awareness Week capped off by the second National Charity Fraud Conference on Friday. The week was a joint initiative between the Charity Commission and the Fraud Advisory Panel to use social media to promote fraud awareness and encourage everyone working within the charity and not-for-profit sectors to discuss the issue. Please see below for a round up of everything that took place throughout the week.
- on Monday the commission launched the new Charities Against Fraud website to support and promote the work of the Charity Sector Counter Fraud Group in tackling fraud
- on Wednesday the commission released its first ever summary analysis of fraud issues reported to the commission via its ‘Reporting Serious Incidents’ regime - a copy of which is available on GOV.UK via the link above and the Charities Against Fraud website
- on Thursday, board member Mike Ashley was interviewed by the Guardian Voluntary Sector Network on the commission’s fraud prevention work
- on Friday, the second National Charity Fraud Conference took place - the event brought together senior figures from the charity and counter-fraud worlds to discuss the fraud challenges charities face, highlight current risks, and share best practice in fraud prevention, detection and response
- the results of the week long social media poll found that 93% of respondents think that fraud is a major risk to charities
To see more comment from throughout the week search for #charityfraud on Twitter.
And finally, don’t forget the commission’s top tips to reduce your charity’s vulnerability to fraud include:
- Develop a strong counter-fraud culture where staff are encouraged to play their part in the fight against fraud.
- Have in place and robustly apply internal financial controls.
- Encourage staff to voice concerns.
- Have a fraud response plan so that everyone knows what to do and when - stay calm but act quickly when incidents do occur.
- Ensure you report incidents to Action Fraud and report it to us as a serious incident to the Charity Commission.