A victim is a person, organisation, or Government who has suffered direct financial loss from the most serious or complex fraud or corruption.
'Your firm may be at greater risk of financial crime as
economic stresses at the individual and corporate level increase
the incentives for committing fraud, market abuse and other
financial crimes.'
(FSA Financial Risk Outlook 2009)
Serious and complex fraud or corruption can have a significant impact on corporations or businesses who have been intentionally deceived by individuals, organised groups of criminals, fraudulent companies, or even individual members of staff. Whilst larger corporations may be able to rebuild after a serious fraud, for smaller companies the impact can be too great to recover from.
There are some basic controls that you can put in place, no matter what size your company is, to ensure that you are preventing fraud within your organisation: 'How can I mitigate the risks and impact on my company?'.
If your company is a victim of fraud, then we want to help. We are, however, a small and highly specialised organisation that can only take on the most serious and high profile cases. Please read this section carefully: 'Does it fit SFO criteria?'
If it is not appropriate for us to investigate your case, there are a number of other agencies and support services who may be able to assist you. Please see: 'What should I do if I suspect my company has been defrauded?'
The following pages contain useful information in a commonly asked questions format:
