The Cyber Resilience Centre for the South East is proud to support this year’s Charity Fraud Awareness Week which runs from 17 to 21 October 2022.

Now in its seventh year, Charity Fraud Awareness Week is an award-winning campaign, run by a partnership of charities, regulators, representatives, umbrella bodies and other not-for-profit stakeholders, across the world.

All charities, NGOs and not-for-profits are susceptible to fraud, they can be and are often targeted by cybercriminals. Those providing services and supporting local communities may be especially vulnerable to fraudsters attempting to exploit current national and global crises to carry out fraud and cybercrime. This means that now - more than ever - charities need to be fraud aware and take steps to protect their money, people and assets from harm.

The week aims to bring together the third sector to share knowledge, expertise, and good practice in fraud prevention, at a time when many in the sector continue to remain susceptible to fraud and cybercrime.

Andy Richardson, Director of The Cyber Resilience Centre for the South East, said:

“In the last 10 months, Charity fraud has equated to £311.7K in reported losses, although the true scale of fraud against charities is believed to be much higher due to the under-reporting of cybercrime and fraud.

“Here at The Cyber Resilience Centre for the South East, we work with many charities, enabling them to take control of their cyber security and make changes to protect their organisation, employees and, the clients that they work to support. The charities that have joined the SECRC range from small to large charities that work to support victims of crimes such as domestic abuse to organisations that support young people with disabilities.

“No charity is too small or too niche to be affected by cybercrime, which is why we’re getting involved in this year’s Charity Fraud Awareness Week. We want to encourage all third-sector organisations to take action when it comes to preventing cybercrime and fraud, particularly at a time when, more than ever before, charities need to be aware of the risks from fraud and take appropriate steps to ensure their money, people and data are kept safe.”

“If I could encourage charities to do one thing this week, it would be to ,become a member of the SECRC for FREE so that we can help you take steps to improve your cyber security. We know charities have tight budgets, but not taking action against cybercriminals is something charities really cannot afford to do.”

Register today and let us help you in the fight to make the charity sector more cyber secure.

For more information about Charity Fraud Awareness Week visit: preventcharityfraud.org.uk and/or join the conversation at: #StopCharityFraud