Was the veggie haggis a fraud?

London branch

ON the 252nd Anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, the London branch celebrated his birthday in January at the offices of Smith & Williamson in the City of London.

As a warm welcome to the very first branch event of the year. Members and guests on arrival were greeted with refreshments and nibbles.

Branch Chairman Michael Wykes thanked everyone for their attendance and welcomed our guest speaker Kate Beddington-Brown, Head of Communications at CIFAS, whose talk was entitled 'CIFAS & Fraud'.

Kate started her presentation by explaining the history of CIFAS and its important role in combating and preventing fraud.

CIFAS was formed in 1988 by eight retailers and is the UK's Fraud Prevention Service. Since its inception it has now over 260 members spreading across banking, credit cards, asset finance, retail credit, mail order, insurance, savings and investments, telecommunications, factoring and share dealing. On its National Fraud Database CIFAS has over 250,000 confirmed frauds listed.

In the last five years a staggering �4.2 billion of frauds were prevented. Interestingly frauds committed by mobile phone users are usually traceable as the fraudsters do not change their mobile phone number.

Of all the frauds currently committed 45 percent are related to identity fraud, 25 percent to application fraud, 21 percent to the fraudulent misuse of a facility and the remaining nine percent to facility takeover/account takeover fraud.

In 2006 CIFAS introduced a Staff Fraud Database to help combat the rise of fraud in the workplace.

Statistically the top three highest postcode districts in London listed as fraud hot spots are SE16, SE6 and SE13. So for those living in these areas be very vigilant.

The dangers of fraud on the internet have been widely publicised in particularly on internet forums, social networking sites, malware and unsecured wireless networks where most fraud crimes are committed.

Beware of any website that does not display the secure connection displayed as a locked padlock on the screen for any personal information or money transactions. Sites not displaying this sign are potentially unsafe.

Looking into the future the top fraud hot spots in the UK in 2012 are the London Olympic Games. So anyone looking for tickets or accommodation should ensure that their purchases are genuine.

After a very interesting presentation, Kate finally ended her talk by showing pictures of a fraudster and the photographic evidence of his crime that had secured his conviction.

By this time excitement was building and everyone was eagerly looking forward to the climax of the evening - the piping of the Haggis.

We all gathered nervously together in a large room awaiting the Piper and Haggis to show themselves. As soon as we heard the squealing sounds of the pipes we knew the Haggis was on its way. Around the corner appeared a very fine dressed kilted gentleman puffing into the blowpipe of his bagpipes escorting the Haggis on its way to its demise.

With full ceremony our brave Piper addressed the Haggis and with a stabbing motion thrust his dagger into its middle, which brought a few sad tears to those watching. Members and guest of a nervous disposition were gently requested to turn away, or shut their eyes. Unbeknown to us earlier there was a similar ceremony featuring a vegetarian Haggis, a far gentler beast unlike his carnivorous cousin.

When the ceremony was over we were all invited to partake in tasting the haggis with neeps and tatties drowned with a wee dram of the golden Scottish nectar, which went down a treat.

After all the hype and excitement had died down, Members and guests enjoyed the rest of the evening exchanging stories and experiences whilst sampling the various liquid refreshments that were kindly provided.

Indeed, it was a truly memorable evening enjoyed by an appreciative and lively audience.

A special thanks were extended to Kate for a very interesting and absorbing presentation and to Michael Wykes and Smith & Williamson for hosting this very special evening.