This course provides learners with a practical understanding of procurement fraud, the ways in which it can occur throughout the procurement lifecycle, and the controls organisations can use to prevent, detect and respond to it.

The course reflects the changing UK fraud and procurement landscape, including the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and the Failure to Prevent Fraud offence, the Procurement Act 2023, the UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 and the Fraud Strategy 2026 to 2029.

Using practical examples, latest legislation, emerging fraud typologies and interactive case studies, learners will explore procurement fraud from both the offender and organisational perspective. The course also considers how improved procurement data, analytics and artificial intelligence are changing both procurement fraud and fraud detection.

A certificate of attendance will be issued on completion of the course.

Length of Course: 1 day

Delivery: Tutor-led online delivery

• Understanding procurement fraud, bribery, corruption and collusion.

• Procurement fraud risks and red flags across the procurement lifecycle.

• Fraud Act 2006 and Bribery Act 2010.

• Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 and the Failure to Prevent Fraud offence.

• Associated persons, organisational benefit and corporate responsibility.

• Reasonable fraud-prevention procedures and the six Government principles.

• Procurement Act 2023, supplier exclusion, debarment and conflicts of interest.

• UK Anti-Corruption Strategy 2025 and Fraud Strategy 2026–2029.

• Bid rigging, cartels, specification manipulation and supplier/employee collusion.

• Phantom suppliers, invoice fraud, split purchasing and contract variation abuse.

• Supplier due diligence and procurement fraud-risk assessment.

• Procurement transparency, data analytics and fraud intelligence.

• AI-enabled procurement fraud and emerging threats.

• AI-enabled fraud detection, anomaly detection and relationship analysis.

• Investigation, evidence preservation, escalation and organisational response.

• Building an effective procurement fraud prevention and control framework.

The course uses realistic procurement scenarios and facilitated breakout exercises to enable learners to:

• Identify fraud indicators and suspicious procurement behaviour.

• Assess procurement fraud and corruption risks.

• Determine where an investigation should begin.

• Consider what evidence and data should be secured.

• Evaluate whether existing organisational controls are adequate.

• Design proportionate fraud-prevention measures.

• Apply the principals of Disrupt, Safeguard and Respond to procurement fraud.

• Consider how AI and analytics can strengthen future fraud prevention and detection.

Open to all, and particularly suitable for professionals involved in:

• Procurement and commercial management.

• Counter fraud and investigations.

• Contract management.

• Internal audit and assurance.

• Compliance and risk.

• Finance.

• Governance.

• Public-sector commissioning.

• Supplier management.

The course is suitable for professionals across the public, private and third sectors who are responsible for preventing, identifying, investigating or managing procurement fraud risk.