Astute London businesses from both the public and private sectors have joined forces in a bid to fight fraud with the launch of the London Fraud Forum.Members also include representatives from the academic and legal sectors in addition to police organisations.
London is very obviously the economic centre of the UK. It’s not surprising to learn, then, that 70% of all UK-based fraud (conservatively estimated to be worth GB pound 20 billion in losses) is committed in the Capital.
The Forum is set to focus on sharing Best Practice techniques in terms of prevention, education and detection. It will be using the expertise of international corporations and law enforcement partners to support businesses in their bid to thwart the fraudsters.
Regional Fraud Forums began two years ago, with the North East area establishing the concept and setting up the first Forum. London’s Fraud Forum is designed to complement the regional network that’s being set up to cover the rest of the country.
The first major project for the Forum is to host a conference at The Barbican Centre on 4 October which is aimed at bringing together London’s biggest businesses such that they become involved. Following on from this, a series of educational workshops are then planned for medium-sized businesses with the aim of offering practical prevention and enforcement advice to security professionals.
Speaking at the launch, Alan Day (chairman of the London Fraud Forum) said: “The launch of the London Fraud Forum represents a significant step forward in making the Capital a harder target for fraudsters. The Forum will enable smaller organisations that have traditionally had less sophisticated fraud prevention methods in place to access greater expertise.”
A statement on the Forum’s web site reads: “The culture of British business has a tendency to inhibit proper fraud prevention. Fraud costs the UK economy GB pound 14 billion every year – almost GB pound 27,000 per minute, or nearly GB pound 450 per second day in, day out. That’s a cost of GB pound 650 per household per annum… and these are considered to be underestimated figures.
“Fraud is a difficult subject to talk about. In doing so we are highlighting our own deficiencies and those of our businesses. The London Fraud Forum has been formed to promote change within an open, anti-fraud culture. It is the declared aim of the Forum’s members to enable businesses to participate in discounted training events designed to reduce fraud in the region by making the members better able to fight it.”
