NEW Government figures suggest as many as 50 per cent of UK firms suffer some form of fraud every year – with 40 per cent of those committed by a member of staff.

It’s statistics like these that prompted Urmston resident Eddie Whittingham, who is a former police detective, to establish the Business Fraud Prevention Partnership (BFPP).

Eddie – a part time university lecturer on white collar fraud, qualified solicitor, and corporate investigator specialising in business crime – started the BFPP earlier this year specifically to help smaller firms tackle the growing threat of business fraud, including cybercrime.

Members of the partnership are able to access best practice advice to protect themselves and their businesses from fraudsters, and use other more in-depth services such as security breach testing, and staff training and bespoke legal policies.

Eddie’s mission to educate small business owners stems from his time as a serving police officer in Humberside, the last four years of which he spent investigating serious fraud, and his premise is simple.

“Prevention is always better than cure,” he said.

“Many of the businesses who were victims of cybercrime last year could have avoided it had they followed some fairly basic security. Unfortunately, though, fraud is never an issue until it actually happens, and small firms are the easiest targets, often having less security and time to spend on doing it right.

“What I tell firms is that it’s largely about going back to basics. Start by shredding everything that’s paper based. Second, use different passwords for different accounts, and change them regularly – ideally weekly.

"I also recommend encrypting any device used for business purposes.”

When it comes to fraud though, Eddie says it’s the enemy within that should be feared most. “If a fraud is committed in a business, it’s quite often a member of staff behind it.

"I regularly hear, ‘Such and such a member of staff wouldn’t do that’.

"For example, there is a recent case of a hotel business where the manager was running dummy invoices through accounts for non-existent staff. Over a period of years he pinched enough money to go off and buy his own hotel. Small firms really need to be more savvy, which is where the BFPP can help.”

Regional chairman for the Federation of Small Businesses in Greater Manchester, Simon Edmondson, said: “FSB research revealed in 2014 that 42 per cent of our members nationally had been victims of cybercrime – that’s certainly gone up.

"It’s a massive problem and the police don’t have adequate resources to investigate all these crimes, which are often perpetrated by overseas criminals.

“It’s up to small firms to make themselves safer, and the BFPP is a credible source of information run by somebody who knows more about this subject than most.”