At Diabetes Singapore, we do not take fraud lightly and want to protect our stakeholders at all costs.

At Diabetes Singapore we do our very best to educate our stakeholders about the services that we provide. We are also transparent about the percentage of collected funds used for charitable purposes.

What is charity fraud?

“Charity fraud, type of fraud that occurs when charitable organisations that solicit funds from the public for philanthropic goals, such as seeking cures for diseases or aiding the families of slain police officers, solicit donations in a deceptive manner or use the monies that they collect for purposes not intended by the donors. Charities are subject to the kinds of fraud that can also plague business organisations, such as embezzlement and misappropriation of funds by executives.”

https://www.britannica.com/topic/charity-fraud

What does fraud look like in a charity organization?

Internal fraud may include…

• Misuse of funds (Someone that works in Diabetes Singapore handles the charity funds dishonestly e.g. stealing charity money or using credit cards for unauthorized payments)
• False expense claims (Expenses are incorrectly claimed for more money than was spent)
• Abuse of position (Employee abusing their position of power or trust to manipulate finances or other staff members to committee money laundering or charity embezzlement)

Click here to learn more about our Whistle-blowing policy

External fraud may include…

• Invoice fraud (fraudsters posing as suppliers and sending invoices)
• Unauthorized funding (Individuals or groups soliciting funds on behalf of Diabetes Singapore, convincing members of the public to donate to a legitimate cause, only to keep the money for themselves)
• Cyber fraud (phishing emails, phishing via fake websites, impersonation, hacking a computer/network to obtain the charity’s sensitive date or access funds)
• Money laundering
• Phone fraud (Fake telephone calls on behalf of Diabetes Singapore)
• Third-part fundraising (Using beneficiaries’ personal information)

What should you do?

If you have ever experienced any of the above, please contact us immediately at enquiry@diabetes.org.sg. Provide us with their particulars including their names, date and time of incident, location that you were approached, and any other description of person soliciting funds (i.e. gender, age, race, built and any other distinctive features of the person).

1. Protect yourself

• Check the collection is authorized, and the collection of funds is authorized. If in doubt, contact us.
• If in doubt, tell the collector you’ll donate directly to Diabetes Singapore yourself

2. Spot the signs

• Promotional material has bad English, or spelling mistakes
• Collector is intimidating and shows falsified documents

Unsure of whether your experience is considered as fraud? Email us with your experience at enquiry@diabetes.org.sg