Salary Sacrifice Scheme Fraud Alert

The NHS Counter Fraud Authority (NHSCFA) have been alerted to a new fraud trend within salary sacrifice schemes. Many NHS organisations offer a salary sacrifice scheme to their employees and partner with various providers who supply varying benefits (i.e., cycle to work scheme, car leasing, electrical goods etc.).

The scheme is an agreement between the employer and employee for them to purchase items and benefit from the cost being split over multiple payments out of their salary, pre-tax. This can be done directly between the employee and provider with final authorisation undertaken by Payroll who determine whether entering the salary sacrifice agreement will put the employee into financial difficulty/minimum wage after deductions.

The NHSCFA is aware that a number of salary sacrifice agreements have been entered into by fraudsters using stolen credentials of NHS staff across various NHS organisations.

Actions to protect yourself from fraud

• Do not share your ESR/assignment number or nhs.net login credentials and keep them confidential. Keep them distinct from any personal passwords / login credentials you use.
• If you believe that your ESR details, work email or nhs.net details have been compromised, tell your local IT Security Lead.
• Stay secure online with tips from the National Cyber Security Centre: Top tips for staying secure online - For public sector organisations 
• Create a strong individual password for different systems by using three random words and a combination of upper and lower-case letters, symbols and numbers is a good way to protect yourself online.
• Promptly report any unusual activity on payslips, work email, or your ESR account to Human Resources/Payroll and your nominated Local Counter Fraud Specialist (LCFS).

How to report fraud

• NHS employees who believe they have been a victim of this type of fraud should carry out a credit history check to identify any anomalies. All incidents of suspected fraud against the NHS organisation should be reported to the nominated AFS (contact details are included in this alert) or the NHSCFA by calling 0800 028 4060 or online at cfa.nhs.uk/reportfraud
• Any attempted or successful frauds of this type should also be reported to Action Fraud for their information and intelligence, to help produce guidance to stop this type of fraud recurring.