Battling Fraud: Counter Fraud Services

ith online fraud being on the rise and more and more people falling victim to it, it became necessary for the officials to set up a squad for tracing and convicting the offenders. Although the mode of operation of online scams leaves them virtually untraceable, dedicated officials and the investigative departments of the various countries have come together to find a solution to this problem with the result being the NHS Counter Fraud Service. The people involved are incessantly working towards the goal of countering and eliminating the possibilities of scams and frauds.

The Counter Fraud and Security Management Division protects the staff and resources of the National Health Service in England and Wales. This was previously known as the NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service or the NHS CFSMS. This was set up to predominantly protect the NHS from being subject to scams and fraud and to prevent the interests of the employees working in the NHS as well. This was set up in 1998 and since then has been working incessantly for the cause of preventing scams and ensuring the complete protection of NHS resources.

Objectives:

• The NHS has certain objectives and its primary target is to achieve them. Some of them are to revise and reinstate the policies and processes to suit the requirements of the officials who are combating fraud cases.
• It gathers information through a well-placed and organized network to stop offenders from executing their planned frauds, and works towards making a better crime-detection squad.

In the England and Wales, a Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS) is placed in every NHS trust. Removing money from the NHS, causes more input to be invested which results in putting a greater burden on the taxpayers and the general public. Given that the offenders have access to the latest technology, the officials work round the clock to thwart their every attempt of stopping frauds and scams committed by the patients themselves and the contractors. The patients often used false identities to get a large number of prescribed drugs which they in return sold at a higher price in the black market. Contractors such as opticians and dentists, who work there charge payment for services and treatments which they have not provided. After the NHS stepped in, these fraud cases have gone down by more than 80% and the officials are working towards eliminating he other half.