PwC launches Fraud Academy in Scotland

PwC said the move is in response to more than half of Scottish businesses being hit by economic crime, costing millions of pounds in employee and management fraud.

Starting in the last week of September, PwC will launch a programme of free events at which subject matter experts, from within, and external to the firm, will present on a variety of topics relevant to people who work in the area of, or are interested in economic crime. At each event attendees will have an opportunity to question the speakers and debate the topics.

After the launch events, it is expected Fraud Academy will meet three times a year going forward to discuss the latest hot topics in economic crime. Between events Fraud Academy members will also receive regular technical updates and blog posts.

The inaugural events will look at the psychology of an internal fraudster, debate recent economic crime trends in Scotland and provide practical tips on protecting yourself against internal fraud. Attendees will also have the opportunity to engage with the speakers in a Q&A session. The speakers will include Luke Treglown, Organisational Psychologist, Protection Group International, Gordon Burns from Police Scotland’s Economic Crime Unit and Gerard Drugan from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Carol Rarity, PwC Forensics Scotland Lead, said: “Our surveys, work and expertise have found that at least half of Scottish companies have experienced some form of economic crime in the past year - and around a third of these crimes are at the hands of an internal perpetrator.

“With that in mind, it is becoming increasingly important for organisations to understand why employees go bad and what protection tools are available so we are going to use 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.

“We hope our events will see people from all sectors, but primarily those working in compliance functions, internal audit, fraud, HR and general counsel teams come together not only to learn, but also to share their insights because internal fraud is now an issue for most companies - and, sadly, at all levels.”