Over a third of charities exposing themselves to potential internal fraud due to inconsistent background checks

Global leader of background and identity services, Sterling, has urged charities to ensure they have consistent and carefully applied background screening programmes in place in order to avoid the growing threat of insider fraud. This comes following a survey from the company that exposed a worrying level of inconsistency amongst background screening practices across the not-for-profit sector.

The research, carried out in a recent webinar by the company titled ‘Insider Fraud, Cyber-crime and Background Checks in the Charity Sector’, revealed that over a third (37%) of individuals responsible for hiring in the sector do not have a consistent employee background screening programme in place. Steve Smith, managing director of Sterling EMEA, has urged charities to recognise that the likelihood of insider fraud could be significantly exacerbated by this approach.

Commenting on the findings, Steve said:

“At a time when insider fraud continues to affect charities, it’s crucial that those in the sector are made aware of the dangers of having inconsistent background screening programmes, and are given clear and concise information on best practice for carrying out right to work and any other employment checks.”

“Unfortunately, despite the invaluable work that charities carry out on behalf of global communities, there are still a number of people who wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of these organisations if given the opportunity, as we saw during our webinar. However, this risk can be massively mitigated by having a programme in place that carries out the right checks on potential employees.”

“This is especially pertinent as fraudsters become more sophisticated and technologically capable. In order to truly equip talent acquisition managers across the sector against insider fraud, consistent, well-thought out, and compliant background checks need to be applied across the board.”

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Jake Galland
BlueSky PR
Jake@bluesky-pr.com
T: +44 (0)1582 790 090