The UAE Banks Federation, UBF, has announced its full support to the International Fraud Awareness Week as an ambassador of fraud awareness for the second consecutive year, during the campaign that runs until 18th November.

The UBF joins a group of organisations to partner with the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, ACFE, to support the annual Fraud Week movement that champions the need to proactively fight fraud and help safeguard businesses and investments from the growing fraud problem.

Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the UAE Banks Federation, said, "Our collaborations with ACFE come in a year that saw a spate of cyberattacks and data breaches which shook the whole world at a cost of billions to business around the globe. As a major stakeholder in the UAE’s financial services sector and the wider economy, we understand our responsibility towards striving for an ecosystem free of fraud, corruption and all kinds of financial crime, where businesses can flourish and achieve their goals and growth targets. Educating companies and employees about the evolving landscape of fraud, and informing them of the latest trends in fraud prevention and detection are the first steps towards minimising the exposure and impact of fraud, and this is what we are trying to achieve by taking part in this novel initiative."

According to ACFE’s 2016 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, fraud costs organisations worldwide an estimated 5 percent of their annual revenues, which could easily run into billions. The Telecommunications Regulations Authority, TRA, of the UAE, said last month that it foiled a total of 561 cyberattacks, the second most reported crime faced by businesses in the Middle East, targeting public and private organisations in the first half of the year alone.

ACFE President, James D. Ratley CFE, said that the support of organisations around the world helps make Fraud Week an effective tool in raising anti-fraud awareness.

"The latest statistics reveal that fraud isn’t going away, and companies that don’t have protective measures in place stand to lose the most," Ratley said. "That’s why it is reassuring to me to see so many businesses, agencies, universities and other organisations involved in the Fraud Week movement. The first step in combating fraud is raising awareness worldwide that it is a serious problem that requires a proactive approach toward preventing it."