Yet another scam targeting the financial integrity of churches took place in Fort Worth, Texas as police sought a man who used a hard luck story to take close to $5,000 from as many as 10 Tarrant County churches. Illustrating how necessary thorough church fraud detection and church fraud prevention can be, police say the […]
Affinity fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. For many churches, fraud prevention and detection is a difficult task. Churches are prime targets for scam artists who use their social networks to gain the trust of hundreds of people very quickly. In their wake, churches often find that many of their members […]
Church leaders and nonprofit board members need to know how to spot a con artist. Affinity fraud is incredibly damaging to ministries. Con artists are often well polished and smooth. Often, people are surprised after the fraud or con has been committed. Fraud prevention isn’t just for large multinational corporations. Churches and other nonprofit organizations […]
Affinity fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States, and unfortunately it can be one of the hardest to stop. Although it is often called church fraud, affinity fraud can occur within any group of closely related people. Most often, however, scam artists use the pre-built social networks of a church […]
If your church or ministry is finding success and growing, the chances are they will be the target of those who wish to bring them down with fraudulent or deceptive means. Today’s world is seeing many churches, ministries, and non-profit organizations shutting down as a result of not being forewarned about the dangers of financial […]
Our Fraud Awareness in the Church series continues with part 2 on Fraud Prevention Programs – Fraud Reporting. We asked churches to respond to this statement: “Our church has established appropriate channels for reporting and resolving sensitive issues like fraud and illegal acts. (Examples include establishing an anonymous fraud hotline, posting notices, etc.)” Survey Results: Only 40% of the […]
Our Fraud Awareness in the Church series continues with a two-part series on Fraud Prevention Programs. PSK in cooperation with the National Association of Church Business Administration (NACBA) conducted a survey to determine the extent of fraud awareness in the church environment. We asked churches to respond to these statements: “Our church has established a formal program for managing fraud risk.” “Our church has […]
Our Fraud Awareness in the Church series continues as we look at Individual Payments: Contractors and Benevolence. We asked churches to respond to these statements: “Before paying an individual as an independent contractor, our church applies IRS compliant tests to determine if the payee qualifies as an independent contractor.” “Our church has written a policy to direct benevolence […]
Our Fraud Awareness in the Church series continues as we look at Information Technology Security. We asked churches to respond to these statements: “Our church has a formal information technology security plan.” “Our church financial secretary or accountant/bookkeeper has access to all modules of the church’s software system.” Churches struggle to keep up with the challenges of the rapid change […]