Lately we have seen a rise in fraudulent activity in the not for profit sector. We often hear of charities falling victim to frauds, both internal and external and individuals using charities’ brands and name to collect monies taking advantage of people’s good nature.
What can be done about this? Well more often than not, charities will not have the benefit of an in-house fully skilled counter fraud resource. Most don’t actually need this, but to dispel a key myth, most fraud is not identified or reported by the fraud team or by the auditors. In most occasions, it will be reported by staff, often not appreciating actually what, or the extent or scale of their suspicion, they report.
In this charity fraud update we discuss some of the common risks that charities can be exposed to and look at how they can result in an increased risk of fraud. We explore how charities can mitigate exposure to these risks and look at ways in which they can better protect themselves against fraudulent activity.