SMEs need to be fraud aware too

Friday 4th September 2015

Dan Stowers, partner and head of regulatory and business crime at Gordons:

Small businesses are being warned to be on alert for fake invoices after new figures revealed a big increase in scams during the first half of the year.

Fake invoice scams targeting businesses have risen, with 749 businesses reporting that they’ve fallen victim to this type of scam just from January through June 2015.

Cifas and Action Fraud say smaller businesses are at greatest risk and find it more difficult to recover from losing large amounts of money.

Dan Stowers, partner and head of regulatory and business crime at Gordons, says: “Many organisations are concerned more with developing their business than managing their risk to fraud, believing it will never happen to them and their systems are sufficient to counter the threat.

“All businesses regardless of size are subject to fraud risk but the smaller the business the less likely they are to have in place an effective counter fraud plan and therefore the basic steps to prevent, deter, detect and respond to fraud if it does happen.

“Businesses should ensure that all staff, particularly those with a financial function and regardless of experience, are aware of the fraud risk to their business. They should also conduct appropriate due diligence on suppliers which forms part of a suitable fraud risk management programme to reduce the threat.”

If you require advice or assistance on any aspect of your anti-fraud strategy then please speak to Peter Hampson, Head of Regulatory on 0113 227 0392 or at peter.hampson@gordonsllp.com.