Counter fraud messaging
Use strong counter fraud messaging to encourage would-be fraudsters to think twice before committing fraud and explain how people should respond to suspicious activity in the workplace.
This control targets both internal and external fraud risks.
Examples
Examples of this control include making statements that:
- most people do the right thing; they behave honestly and support the community by reporting suspected fraud
- reduce the perceived benefits of fraud by showing fraudsters they are likely to be caught and identified
- evoke an emotional reaction (e.g. fear, guilt or empathy) and appeal to a person’s desire to do the right thing
- highlight your organisation’s commitment to disrupting fraud and protecting the integrity of its systems.
Risks from control gap
A lack of clear, effective counter fraud messaging can lead to:
- individuals underestimating the likelihood that fraudulent behaviour will be detected
- people perceiving fraud as low risk and high reward
- individuals believing that consequences will be minimal or unlikely
- fraudsters exploiting perceived gaps in monitoring and enforcement
- potential fraudsters not fearing any consequences.
Assessing effectiveness
Methods to evaluate the effectiveness of this control include:
- analysing data to identify changes to behaviour before and after communications have been made
- reviewing when deterrence messages are delivered. Do they prompt people when they are likely to be most receptive? E.g. when a claim is initiated, when approval is sought, or for any other notifiable events and changes that impact ongoing eligibility
- confirming deterrence messages are obvious and attract attention
- reviewing the design of claim or application forms to ensure deterrence messages are placed upfront
- reviewing deterrence messages to ensure information is presented in plain and direct language
- confirming forms use simple and binary questions to make it more difficult for a person to rationalise providing false or misleading information.
Complementary controls
Other capability, prevention, detection and response controls that can enhance this control’s effectiveness:
Related fraudster personas
Types of behaviour this control is designed to mitigate:
The deceiver
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The enabler
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The exploiter
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Download the complete fraud control catalogue
Explore a range of controls that can be put in place to reduce the risk of fraud happening in your organisation.
More information
- Take our online learning modules to strengthen your fraud awareness
- Conduct pressure testing to identify and reduce fraud and corruption vulnerabilities in your organisation
- Find out more about the real impacts of public sector fraud, beyond just financial
- Gain insights into employee perceptions of their organisation’s fraud exposure and fraud management actions