Scottish Fraud Academy launched to tackle economic crime

Setting the scene

PwC’s Global Economic Crime Survey 2016 showed that more than half of UK businesses are hit by economic crime, costing millions of pounds in employee and management fraud, as well as the consequences of other forms of crime such as money laundering, sanctions, bribery and corruption.

To inform debate about this business critical issue, PwC's Forensic Services in Scotland launched the country’s first Fraud Academy to share best practice and provide access to experts and knowledge about economic crime.

"We felt it would be a very relevant topic as it is becoming increasingly important for organisations to understand why employees go bad and what protection tools are available. We used the launch of Fraud Academy to challenge people to see if they can spot the ‘bad apples’ in the workplace and know the threats that they pose."

Carol Rarity,PwC Forensics Scotland Lead

How we helped

In a series of launch events in September 2017, PwC in Scotland ran a programme of free seminars at which subject matter experts, from within, and external to the firm, presented on a variety of topics relevant to people who work in the area of, or are interested in economic crime.

Since the launch, the Fraud Academy has hosted a further two seminars on the topic and plans to continue with events throughout the year going forward to discuss the latest hot topics in economic crime. Between events, Fraud Academy members also receive regular technical updates and blog posts.

Making a difference

The introduction of the Fraud Academy seminars has allowed Forensics Services in Scotland to extend their existing network further across the country, as well as bringing valuable insights and knowledge on a high risk and often complex subject to both internal and external clients. Many clients had mentioned the lack of a forum to meet, listen to and discuss important issues in this field so Forensic Services in Scotland took the initiative and has successfully filled the void. The result has been warmly received by clients who now engage on a regular basis with the team.

“It is vital that businesses understand the threat, risk and harm posed by economic crime and take action to mitigate against any vulnerabilities within their organisation. We welcome the opportunity to speak directly to the business community, raising awareness of emerging trends and highlighting what people can do to protect their firms from financial harm.”

Detective Inspector Gordon Burns, of the Economic Crime and Financial Investigation Unit