The Charity Commission recently published a warning on the Gov.UK website, to alert charities to an increasingly popular new email scam whereby fraudsters impersonate staff members in an attempt to amend employee bank details.
The practice has already been reported by a number of charities and so the Charity Commission hopes that this latest advice will help to combat fraudulent activity, of this nature, within the charity sector.
All staff, but in particular HR and finance departments, should be wary of any requests that they receive asking for changes to be made to bank details.
Scammers are clever and emails will typically look as though they have originated from an address very similar to that of the subject being impersonated and will often read like credible communications.
Emails relating to employee’s bank details will need to be rigorously cross-referenced and, if in any doubt, you should make contact with the employee via a different channel (e.g. by calling them) and ask them to verify whether or not they have made such a request.
If they have not, you should delete and discard the fraudulent email without making any changes.
The alert goes on to detail a few key tips that charities can employ to prepare for and protect against cybercrime, including:
- Reviewing processes surrounding how employee details are amended/approved and how validity of any requests is verified.
- Upon receipt of suspicious communications, attachments should not be opened, and links should remain unclicked.
- Confidential and sensitive data should be shredded to ensure that any external and unauthorised personnel do not have access to it.
If your charity has fallen victim to this type of fraud, or any other type of fraud, you should report it to Action Fraud.
Charities affected by fraud should also report it to the Charity Commission as a serious incident. This enables the Commission to assess the volume and impact of incidents within charities, and to understand the risks facing the sector as a whole. Where appropriate, it can also respond to incidents with timely advice and guidance.
How can GH Payscheme help?
With GH Payscheme, your payroll is in safe hands. Our support doesn’t start and end with simply processing your payroll each month but goes far beyond that; with specialist knowledge and years of experience, we are only a phone call away should you require advice and guidance on any payroll-related query.
To speak to one of the team about your payroll requirements, contact us at any of our three offices, in Biggleswade, Letchworth or Huntingdon, today.
