Across the legal sector, awareness of fraud has soared over the past year.
Across the legal sector, awareness of fraud has soared over the past year.
The methods used by criminals to target firms grow more sophisticated by the day; from believable text messages to emails which are almost impossible to differentiate from the real thing, fraudsters are finding weaknesses and utilising them.
In the wake of headline-grabbing cases and an industry wide commitment to take action and protect client funds, many firms have stepped up their defence strategies to effectively mitigate this growing risk.
As well as practical efforts to adapt existing processes, levels of staff training are also being stepped up, ensuring that the attitude toward risk prevention is implemented from the front line.
Whilst these measures are clearly steps in the right direction, there is one area of weakness where many firms tend to fall down. Even if a firm has implemented an entirely new strategy to protect client funds, a lack of consistency will ultimately render this ineffective.
Strict risk prevention procedures are more likely to fall down at a time when workload is high. With Easter around the corner, clients become more eager to complete and professionals have to juggle even more than usual – it’s not surprising that shortcuts may be taken.
However, just because things get busy, that doesn’t mean that preventing against risk becomes any less of a priority; in fact, it should go to the top of the list.
When there’s a holiday coming up, fraudsters know that professionals will be more likely to have their guard down. What’s more, a period such as Easter gives criminals much more time to act, making it the perfect time for them to attack your firm.
In order to ensure that transactions are properly protected, it’s essential that checks are applied on a wide-scale basis and prevention strategies are taken seriously.
Using a service such as Lawyer Checker can ensure that transactions are protected at a consistently high level, as well as helping to positively influence the culture within a firm, ensuring that employees are alert to the risk.
Make sure your firm isn’t cutting corners. Click here to find out how Lawyer Checker can protect your clients’ money.
