Fraud and the Pandemic

Charity regulators have warned that the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity for fraudsters, with those charities providing services and supporting local communities during the crisis particularly vulnerable to an increased level of coronavirus related frauds and cyber-attacks.

CCEW has teamed up with The Fraud Advisory Panel (FAP) to issue guidance to charities on how best to protect themselves, highlighting that they need to be extra vigilant in respect of the following types of scams:

• scam emails
• procurement fraud
• mandate or Chief Executive Officer frauds
• unsolicited offers of goods, services or financial support.

The guidance highlights the need to ensure that electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones are protected from the latest threats and the need to use video conferencing services such as Zoom and Skype securely.

Throughout the pandemic FAP, in conjunction with other parties such as the Cabinet Office and City of London Police, have published frequent updates on emerging threats and trends that organisations need to be aware of and the preventative actions that can be adopted in response. Charities can use this guidance to strengthen their procedures and raise awareness within their organisation on the threats they face.

Guidance is available from:

CCEW: https://bit.ly/2G0mSP9 

Fraud Advisory Panel: https://bit.ly/347UqTj