As featured in the July 2014 print issue of Professional Security magazine, the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies (CCFS) at the University of Portsmouth has put together a Counter Fraud 2020 plan. For details visit – http://www.port.ac.uk/media/contacts-and-departments/icjs/ccfs/COUNTER-FRAUD-2020-A-TWELVE-POINT-PLAN.pdf.
The CCFS is seeking input from the wider counter-fraud and security community on its draft 12-point plan.
Among its suggestions, the Government should create a new Fraud Sanctions Service to work with a National Fraud Investigative Agency (NFIA). Legislation should be enacted to create a new offence similar to section 7 of the Bribery Act to make it an offence for commercial organisations to fail to prevent fraud by themselves against their own customers. The Government should encourage the development of a British Standard in Managing the Risk of Fraud. There should be a requirement for all organisations (above a certain size) to provide an estimate of the total cost of fraud (not just what is detected or reported) in their annual accounts. And a regular prevalence survey of the general public on fraud victimisation should be commissioned.
The authors begin with the point that fraud causes significant harm to society. It costs at least £52 billion and probably more – more than £1100 for every adult in the UK. Fraud is a pernicious problem which makes private companies less financially healthy and stable than they would otherwise be.
