Fraud Messaging Toolkit

Fraud messaging means building fraud awareness, prevention strategies and consequences into public communications during the various stages of policy and program design and delivery. Proactive counter-fraud messaging has the greatest impact when it is deployed upfront to prevent fraud before it occurs. It can be an effective and low-cost way to address and reduce the impacts of fraud.

Incorporating public messaging early in the policy/program design process can help deter criminals and opportunistic individuals from looking for opportunities to commit fraud. Messages intending to deter fraud can be included in government announcements, communications, press releases, websites and application forms.

Public messaging can change behaviour by changing beliefs about situations, risks and benefits. Fraud messaging can minimise a person’s ability to rationalise fraudulent behaviour and deter a person from defrauding government programs.

This toolkit provides messages that are designed to communicate the likelihood that someone will be caught if they commit fraud and the consequences of being caught.

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