How to maximise messaging impact

Try diverse communication approaches

Attract attention 

Use compelling and visually appealing content that will resonate with your audience’s emotions and interests. Impactful visuals such as eye-catching images or videos can help to enhance the reach and shareability of your message. Actively engage your audience using interactive elements like quizzes, polls or challenges to encourage active participation and involvement with your audience. 

Highlight key messages

People commonly focus on information given at the start of an email or web page. Eye-tracking studies show that individuals will often disregard information in the body of a document and concentrate largely on headline information or highlighted boxes.

Use stories 

Using human stories in counter fraud awareness campaigns has been shown to be more effective than using facts and figures. Relatable human stories in counter fraud messaging can make the impact of fraud personal, allowing individuals to see the real-life consequences of fraudulent activity. 

By emphasising real-life scenarios and demonstrating the potential consequences of falling victim to fraud, the right messaging can evoke emotional responses and motivate individuals to be proactive in safeguarding their financial assets and personal information. 

Sharing the experiences of others can also help put a face to counter fraud and create a shared sense of solidarity. This can help to foster a sense of collective responsibility to combat fraud and supports the idea that everyone has a role in helping to prevent and detect fraud in their organisation. 

Prompt people at key moments 

A good opportunity to convey counter fraud messaging is in instructions and guidance for activities and process. For example:

• instructions to collect the right information to verify eligibility or entitlements
• procedures to help employees consistently apply the correct processes
• guidance to help employees make correct and ethical decisions. 

This ensures that the information required is provided upfront and there is no confusion about how people can and should act honestly. 

Provide examples or guidance to help someone recognise what to report (and how to go about it) as part of your fraud risk processes or procedures. For instance, in the invoice approval process document, include red flags that might help identify a false supplier invoice. 

Use plain and direct language 

Straightforward and easily understandable language will help your messaging reach a wider audience. It will also help to reach people who may not be familiar with some of the jargon associated with fraud. Simple language helps eliminate confusion and ensures that key messages leave little room for misinterpretation.  

Reinforce positive social norms 

People are more likely to be dishonest if they can do so by not providing or updating information rather than by actively providing false information. This is because actively providing false information makes the dishonesty more substantial and more difficult for individuals to rationalise their self-image as honest. 

Building integrity, vigilance and a culture of trust and cooperation can make it harder for fraudsters to exploit vulnerabilities. It is possible to promote integrity-driven behaviours by reinforcing positive social norms. Communicating that most people do the right thing can help encourage others to do the same. When employees know their colleagues engage in honest behaviours, they are more likely to follow suit. 

Another way to create a sense of collective responsibility is to highlight positive role models and success stories of employees who have taken proactive measures against fraud. When reporting fraud or taking preventive measures are seen to be common and standard behaviours, it creates a stronger sense of expectation to contribute to the collective effort to combat fraud. Showing that action will be taken against suspicious activity can help to reinforce positive behaviours. 

Deter would-be fraudsters

When we talk about fraud, we often refer to the fraud triangle to describe the elements that lead someone to commit fraud. One of these elements is rationalisation, or the ability of the fraudster to justify their criminal actions to themselves. By removing some of the possible ways that a fraudster might rationalise their behaviours, we can seek to mitigate fraudulent behaviour. One approach is to nudge a person to do the right thing and draw on their moral code. 

Behavioural research has also found that the fear of getting caught is a greater deterrent than the fear of the consequences. This means that one of the most effective ways to encourage compliance is to communicate that your organisation will be looking for suspicious activity and that offenders will be caught.

More information

• Check out our range of guidance and see where to start your counter fraud journey
• Take our online learning modules to strengthen your fraud awareness
• Carry out a fraud risk scan to identify potential areas of fraud risk within your organisation
• See how a robust and well-structured procurement process is the first line of defence against procurement fraud and corruption