Ifakara Health Institute hosted a series of workshops on fraud awareness for all staff of the Institute which aimed at giving them essential knowledge on fraudulent practices, detection, prevention and the consequences of engaging in such practices.

The workshops took place at all three Ifakara offices in Ifakara, Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam between July 20, 2022 and August 17, 2022. Similar sessions were also conducted virtually over the Zoom platform.

A total of 124 participants, which included staff from all departments and disciplines, attended the workshops. “The goal of the workshops was to increase awareness on fraud activities and turn all employees, directors and collaborators into fraud detectors,” said Benjamin Chimori, the Ifakara Chief Internal Auditor.

Chimori also emphasized on the importance of whistleblowing, stressing that it is the responsibility of every employee to report any fraudulent behavior. “The fight against fraudulent activities and corruption is the role of everyone,” he said.

About Fraud
Fraud refers to a wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain. Fraud may also refer to an intentionally deceptive action designed deny a right to a victim. Types of fraud include tax fraud, credit card fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, and bankruptcy fraud. Fraudulent activity can be carried out by one individual, multiple individuals or a business firm as a whole.

In finance, fraud can take on many forms including making false insurance claims, cooking the books, pump & dump schemes, and identity theft leading to unauthorized purchases. Fraud costs the economy billions of dollars each and every year, and those who are caught are subject to fines and jail time.

Fraud involves the false representation of facts, whether by intentionally withholding important information or providing false statements to another party for the specific purpose of gaining something that may not have been provided without the deception.

Learn more about fraud here.