Centre for Counter Fraud Studies
We founded the Centre in 2009 to address the growing interest in counter fraud, and to offer research and knowledge services to publicise and explain the problems of fraud and economic crime.
Our members have been involved in many projects, resulting in dozens of high quality publications – and our findings have been integrated into the University's undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
We present a programme of events centred around our Annual Conference held in June each year. Our members regularly speak at events and contribute to the specialist courses and modules offered by the University.
Research
Our research in counter fraud focuses on key topics, such as:
- counter fraud strategies
- fraud and corruption measurement
- economic crime offenders
- preventing fraud and corruption
- money laundering
- sanctions against fraudsters
- training and education related to counter fraud
- victims of fraud and cybercrime
Our members
Media ready expert
Professor Mark Button
- Job Title Director of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies
- Email Address Mark.Button@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Media ready expert
Mr Dean Blackbourn
- Job Title Senior Lecturer in Counter Fraud Studies
- Email Address Dean.Blackbourn@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Media ready expert
Dr Branislav Hock
- Job Title Senior Lecturer in Economic Crime
- Email Address branislav.hock@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Professor Rebecca Milne
- Job Title Professor of Forensic Psychology
- Email Address Becky.Milne@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Professor Francis Pakes
- Job Title Professor in Criminology, Associate Dean (Research)
- Email Address Francis.Pakes@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Dr Andie Shawyer
- Job Title Senior Lecturer
- Email Address Andrea.Shawyer@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Dr David William James Shepherd
- Job Title Senior Lecturer in Economic Crime
- Email Address david.shepherd@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Dr Victoria Wang
- Job Title Reader In Security and Cyber-Crime
- Email Address victoria.wang@port.ac.uk
- Department School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Faculty Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
- PhD Supervisor PhD Supervisor
Our featured publications
Reports
Financial Cost of Fraud Reports
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2019) The Financial Cost of Fraud 2019. London: Crowe.
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2018) The Financial Cost of Fraud 2018. London: Crowe Clark Whitehill.
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2017) The Financial Cost of Fraud 2017. The Latest Data from Around the World. London: Crowe Clark Whitehall.
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2015) The Financial Cost of Healthcare Fraud 2015: What the Data from Around the World Shows. London: PKF Littlejohn.
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2014) The Financial Cost of Healthcare Fraud 2014. London: BDO.
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2013) The Financial Cost of Fraud Report 2013. London: BDO.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2011) The Financial Cost of Healthcare Fraud. What the data from around the world shows.London: PKF/CCFS
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2011) The Financial Cost of Fraud. What the data from around the world shows. London: PKF/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2010) The Financial Cost of Healthcare Fraud. London: MacIntyre Hudson/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2009) The Financial Cost of Fraud. London: MacIntyre Hudson/CCFS.
Real Cost of Fraud Reports
- Button, M., Blackbourn, D., Lewis, C. and Shepherd, D. (2013) The True Cost of Insider Fraud. London: CIFAS.
- Button, M., Blackbourn, D., Lewis, C. and Shepherd, D. (2013) The Real Cost of Staff Fraud. Portsmouth: CCFS.
- Button, M, Shepherd, D. and Hock, B (2019) The Real Cost of External Fraud. Stoke-on-Trent: Synectics
- Gee, J. and Button, M. (2015) The Resilience of the Charity Sector in England and Wales to Fraud. London: PKF.
- Gee., J. Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2012) The Resilience to Fraud of the Local Government Sector. London: PKF/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2012) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK Insurance Sector. London: PKF/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2012) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK Hotel Sector. London: PKF/CCFS
- Gee, J., Button, M., Brooks, G. and Higginbottom, N. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK Housing Sector – research into How Well UK Social Housing Organisations Protect Themselves. London: PKF/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Cook, I. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK HEI Sector. London: PKF.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Cook, I. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK Charity Sector. London: PKF.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Cook, I. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of UK Plc. London: PKF.
- Button, M., Sugiura, L., Blackbourn, D., Kapend, R., Shepherd, D., Wang, V. (2020) Victims of Computer Misuse. Executive Summary. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.
- Button, M., Sugiura, L., Blackbourn, D., Kapend, R., Shepherd, D., Wang, V. (2020) Victims of Computer Misuse. Portsmouth: University of Portsmouth.
- Kerr, J., Owen, R., McNaughton Nicholls, C. and Button, M. (2013) Research on Sentencing Online Fraud Offences. London: Sentencing Council.
- Button, M., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (2009a) Fraud Typologies and the Victims of Fraud Literature Review. London: National Fraud Authority.
- Button, M., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (2009c) A Better Deal for Victims. London: National Fraud Authority.
- Button, M., Shepherd, D. and Blackbourn, D. (2016) The Fraud ‘Justice Systems’: A Scoping Study on the Civil, Regulatory and Private Paths to ‘Justice’ for Fraudsters - Main Report. Portsmouth: Centre for Counter Fraud Studies.
- Database of Regulatory Bodies Dealing with Fraud Related Cases
- Button, M., Lewis, C., Shepherd, D., Brooks, G., and Wakefield, A. (2012) Fraud and Punishment: Enhancing Deterrence through More Effective Sanctions. Main Report. Portsmouth: Centre for Counter Fraud Studies.
- Gee, J., Hayes, M. and Button, M. (2019) Fraud and Cyber Crime Vulnerabilities in the Legal Sector. London: Crowe.
- Finnerty, K., Fullick, S., Motha, H., Navin, J., Button, M. and Wang, V. (2019) Cyber Breaches Survey 2019. London: IPSOS Mori
- Gee, J., Hall, L., Wang, V., Button, M. and Joseph, E. (2018) The Dark Web Bad for Business. London: Crowe.
- Levi, M., Button, M. and Whitty, M. (2017) Economic Crime: Learning from Offender Methodologies, and Pathways into (and out of) Crime. Report for City of London Police.
- Button, M. and Leys, C. (2013) Healthcare Fraud in the New NHS Market - A Threat to Patient Care.London: Centre for Health and the Public Interest.
- Button, M., Pakes, F. and Blackbourn, D. (2013) Profile of a Household Insurance Fraudster.Portsmouth: CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Kelly, S. (2013) Intelligent Intelligence. London: BDO.
- Button, M. Lewis, C., Shepherd, D. and Brooks, G. (2012) Measuring Fraud in Overseas Aid: Options and Methods. London: DfID.
- Gee, J., Brooks, G. and Button, M. (2011) Fraud in Football. London: PKF.
Conferences and events
2022 Annual Counter Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference: 14 June 2022
The 11th Annual Counter Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference will be held on the 14 June in Portsmouth and online. It will feature more than 20 speakers commenting on the latest ideas and research in economic criminology.
Key plenary speakers will include:
- Dr Elisabeth Carter, Associate Professor, Kingston University – Self-Protection, the Illusion of Risk and Online Harms
- Claire Jenkins, Companies House – What External Fraud Actors Matter
- Dr Cassandra Cross, Queensland University of Technology – Romance Fraud
- Dr Veronica Morino – How to Out-think the Fraudsters and Increase Fraud Resistance in your Organisation
- Dr Martina Dove – Meet the Author: The Psychology of Fraud, Persuasion and Scam Techniques
- Professor Jeremy Wilson, Michigan State University – Meet the Author: Brand Protection and Global Risk of Product Counterfeits
The conference will be free to watch online. There will be a fee to attend in person, unless you are a current University of Portsmouth student.
The full programme and details of registering will appear shortly.
Past events
2021 Annual Counter Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference: 16 June 2021
Our 2021 conference brought together academics and practitioners to discuss the very latest issues in fraud and forensic accounting.
Our keynote speakers were:
- Dr Cassandra Cross, from the Queensland University of Technology – Romance Fraud
- David Woolf - The Behaviours of Organised Cyber Criminals
- Professor Robert Barrington, Sussex University - The Governance of Corruption in the UK: who is in charge?
- Rebecca Fitzhugh, Sobelco, USA - Integrity Monitors and Combatting Fraud and Corruption in Major Construction Projects
Other speakers included: Jim Gee, Peter Ticker, Mike Betts and many more. We also held a debate on the future structure of the police to deal with fraud and economic crime.
Read more about the 2021 Annual Counter Fraud and Forensic Accounting Conference
Organisations: Beyond Victims and Perpetrators. Winter Symposium 4 February 2021
Our 2021 winter symposium examined the complicated network of organisations' relationships, which should not be reduced to two groups, victims and perpetrators. On the one hand, organisations are cheated by their employees, discriminated against by corrupt public officials, and face cyber-attacks; on the other, organisations evade taxes, defraud their customers, and cheat competitors.
Topics included the increased societal demand for corporations to implement internal ethics and compliance programmes, the extent to which these programmes work, the policing and support of victimised organisations, and the importance of organisational culture.
Speakers included:
- Anthony Stansfield, Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley Police
- Dr David Buil-Gil, University of Manchester
- Peter Y. Solmssen
- Dr Abiola Makinwa, Anti-Corruption Compliance - Principal Lecturer at the Hague University of Applied Sciences
- Prof Dr Jeremy M Wilson, Michigan State University
- Members of the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies
Read a report from the symposium, or watch the symposium recording with access passcode n35pGL@Y
Counter Fraud Conference 2019
Read a report on the proceedings of the 2019 Counter Fraud Conference.
Services
Our full list of services includes:
- Provision of high-quality research related to economic crime
- Organising seminars and conferences on the latest developments in countering fraud, corruption and economic crime
- Consultancy and expert advice on countering fraud, corruption and economic crime
- Provision of high quality professional training and education in counter fraud, corruption and economic crime
Our staff have an established track record in providing research and knowledge transfer services to a range of organisations, including the Home Office, National Fraud Authority, City of London Police, Department for International Development, Midlands Fraud Forum, Cifas, Crowe and Synectics Solutions.
Courses
Staff working at the Centre are associated with and contribute to a number of University courses:
Projects
Since the formation of the Centre in 2009, it has been associated with over £250,000 of research income. Projects were for public, private and voluntary sector clients. Some of the projects are listed below with their main findings, publications and impact.
Case studies
The Centre for Counter Fraud Studies is supporting an EPSRC project (FEC funding: 360k) titled: 'Data Release: Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security' (EP/N027825/1) (2016-2020). Dr. Victoria Wang (PI), Professor Mark Button (CoI), and Dr. David Sherperd (Senior Research Fellow).
Project abstract:
We understand that there is a clear argument for releasing public data so that commercial companies can create added value by developing apps that can harness the data or utilise the data in existing apps. But there can also be unintended consequences. Therefore, we must strike a correct balance that ensures data releases are safe, secure and do not break privacy and trust, but also provide enough data to produce economic benefits. Organisations that collect and host personal data must be confident about security and privacy. We aim to provide organisations with a holistic approach to safeguard their data release.
This project is joint with another EPSRC project (FEC funding: £1.24M) on Data Release - Trust, Identity, Privacy and Security (EP/N028139/1) (2016-2020) at Swansea University. We are working with computer scientists to integrate formal modelling, data mining, visual analytics and information security management to solve the complex problem of predicting the impact of releasing data sets.
Corporate victims of fraud have also been neglected by researchers and policy-makers. One significant issue is gauging the extent of victimisation within an organisation. The CCFS has been at the forefront of conducting research on fraud measurement. Working in partnership with the business advisory practices MacIntyre Hudson, PKF (BDO). The research has highlighted the significant costs of fraud to organisations in different sectors.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2009) The Financial Cost of Fraud. London: MacIntyre Hudson/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2010) The Financial Cost of Healthcare Fraud. London: MacIntyre Hudson/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2010) The Financial Cost of Public Sector Fraud. London: MacIntyre Hudson/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2011) The Financial Cost of Fraud. What the data from around the world shows. London: PKF/CCFS.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Brooks, G. (2011) The Financial Cost of Healthcare Fraud. What the data from around the world shows. London: PKF/CCFS
The work on fraud measurement has been used to produce a guide on Measuring Fraud for the EU/China project. The expertise was further recognised with a research contract with the Department for International Development to examine the challenges in using fraud loss measurement approaches in overseas aid.
- Button, M. Lewis, C., Shepherd, D. and Brooks, G. (2012) Measuring Fraud in Overseas Aid: Options and Methods. London: DfID.
These projects have also resulted in academic publications.
- Button, M., Gee, J. and Brooks, G. (2012) Measuring the Cost of Fraud: An Opportunity for the New Competitive Advantage. Journal of Financial Crime, 19, pp 65-75.
- Brooks, G., Button, M. and Gee, J. (2012) The Scale of Healthcare Fraud: A Global Evaluation. Security Journal, 25, pp 76-87.
- Button, M. and Gee, J. (2013) Countering Fraud for Competitive Advantage. Chichester: Wiley.
Ensuring organisations minimise the risk of further victimisation has been another important stream in this area of research. Mark Button and Graham Brooks have also worked with MacIntyre Hudson and now PKF (BDO) on research projects related to the resilience of organisations to fraud (2010 onwards). Using key industry benchmarks on counter fraud strategy a survey was developed and distributed to the key sectors of the UK economy. The results of this were published in a series of reports covering the UK and specific sectors. Some examples are listed below (the full list can be found in publications).
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Cook, I. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of UK Plc. London: PKF.
- Gee, J., Button, M. and Cook, I. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK HEI Sector. London: PKF.
- Gee, J., Button, M., Brooks, G. and Higginbottom, N. (2011) The Resilience to Fraud of the UK Housing Sector – research into How Well UK Social Housing Organisations Protect Themselves. London: PKF/CCFS.
It has resulted in further research and the development of an online tool in partnership with the National Fraud Authority and Insurance Fraud Investigators Group which enables organisations to assess their counter fraud strategy.
In 2009 the National Fraud Authority (NFA)/Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO)/Office of Fair Trading (OFT) funded the Centre to research victims of fraud. This research highlighted the devastating impact fraud has on victims, the lack of support they receive and the difficulties of securing help. The research resulted in three reports and a subsequent vox populi.
- Button, M., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (2009) Fraud Typologies and the Victims of Fraud Literature Review. London: National Fraud Authority.
- Button, M., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (2009) Support for the Victims of Fraud: An Assessment of the current Infra-Structure in England and Wales. London: National Fraud Authority.
- Button, M., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (2009) A Better Deal for Victims. London: National Fraud Authority.
- Button, M., Gee, J., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (2010) The Human Cost of Fraud: A Vox Populi. London: MacIntyre Hudson/CCFS.
The research had a significant impact on policy development by government bodies in relation to the services and structures created to support fraud victims. Dr Bernard Herdan (Chief Executive of NFA) and Mike Bowron (Commissioner of City of London Police) wrote in the foreword to the research:
“It represents an important step forward in filling in the gap in our knowledge about the victims of fraud and provides a bed-rock for ensuring that victims remain at the centre of our plans to combat the effects of fraud.”
During the research the NFA created a victims stakeholder group which covered the main statutory, voluntary and private bodies with an interest in fraud victims. Recommendations from the reports were taken away by these group members to influence their policies for dealing with fraud victims. The lack of support for SMEs identified by the research led the NFA to decide to offer greater services to these victims of fraud. Indeed as the NFA’s list of achievements noted in 2010 in relation to this research:
“These findings led the NFA to create an action plan for radically improving support to individuals and small and medium-sized business (SME) victims of fraud. The research has also influenced the support offered to victims by other bodies such as Victim Support, OFT and the Serious Fraud Office.”
The most significant impact was the need for a single point of contact for victims and this helped to cement government thinking towards the creation of Action Fraud, which has been created to provide this function. Action Fraud is a central point of contact for the reporting of fraud and provision of advice and support for victims. The then Chief Executive of Victim Support, Gillian Guy, offered this conclusion on the research:
“The NFA’s research will help everyone better understand how victims are affected, which is key for developing more effective support services.”
This research has also led to academic publications.
- Button, M., Tapley, J. and Lewis, C. (2013) The ‘Fraud Justice Network’ and the Infra-structure of Support for Individual Fraud Victims in England and Wales. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 13: 37-61.
- Button, M., Lewis, C. and Tapley, J. (Forthcoming) Not a Victimless Crime: The Impact of Fraud on Individual Victims and their Families. Security Journal.