News

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) of the UK Food Standards Agency has issued an AMBER Food Crime Alert on the Risk of Document Fraud in Laboratory Results.

WHY NFCU IS ISSUING THIS ALERT?
There has been an increase in the use of fraudulent laboratory results being seen in issues that have been investigated by the National Food Crime Unit.

As such, this alert is being issued so that any business within the food supply chain who use testing results as a means to assess food safety, compliance with legislative requirements or to approve the use of a product or supplier can be aware of the recommendations raised in this alert.

ACTION RECOMMENDED
If you have reason to believe that a test result you are being shown may be false, we recommend taking the following actions:

1. Review the document carefully. Look for any errors in wording or layout, including differences between dates that appear on the certificates.
2. Layout issues could include shadowing or misalignment around key data including dates, signatures or data values. 
3. If reviewing the documentation on site, ask to see original emails or review the results directly through result portals (if available). Do not rely on second hand references to results such as excel spreadsheets - these may be used legitimately for companies to consolidate and present trends, but should not be accepted as an alternative to sample certificates.
4. Consult the laboratory name on the certificate if in doubt, or report to the National Food Crime Unit at: Food Crime Confidential or by freephone on 0800 028 1180. For non UK mobiles or calls from overseas please use 0207 276 8787. 
5. Where there are concerns that testing results are false or not authentic, consideration should be given whether this introduces a food safety concern, or food safety non-compliance, in particular when the test results are a legal requirement. 
6. Be aware of the risks of document fraud for other certificates such as third party assurance certificates, Protected Designation certificates or product specifications and report any other concerns around document fraud using the information above.

CONTACT NFCU - If you become aware of information relevant to this Food Crime Alert, please share with NFCU via:

• WEBSITE – visit food.gov.uk and click 'Report' at the top of the page.
• TELEPHONE –08000 28 11 80.
• EMAIL – foodcrime@food.gov.uk.

Please quote the alert number A003 in correspondence. Our processes enable us to handle information discreetly.

Read full alert.

The National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) of the UK Food Standards Agency has issued an AMBER Food Crime Alert on the Risk of Distribution Fraud Thefts from Food Businesses.

There has been a recent increase in the reporting of distribution fraud being used as a method of stealing high value food products from UK based companies.

The method of theft will include impersonating an existing business and using falsified documentation such as email addresses, invoices or even fake websites.

WHY HAS THE NFCU ISSUED THIS ALERT?
This alert is based on recent reports of this methodology being used in high profile thefts of food. Because of this NFCU is sharing this information via industry groups in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to encourage vigilance to this potential risk, and that food businesses update any risk assessments and processes to increase their resilience to this form of fraud.

           ACTION RECOMMENDED

1. Ensure that this information is used to inform any vulnerability or fraud risk assessments with appropriate actions in place.
2. Inform relevant colleagues with responsibility for sales and customer contracts to be aware of any unusual or suspicious activity such as changes to bank details from existing customers or new customers requesting extremely large orders of high value items.
3. If unsure whether a purchase is legitimate, do not reply directly to contacts via email or messages. Instead use publicly listed information for the company that are attempting the purchase and contact them directly to validate the details you are being given.

CONTACT NFCU - If you become aware of information relevant to this Food Crime Alert, please share with us via:
WEBSITE – visit food.gov.uk and click 'Report' at the top of the page.
TELEPHONE –08000 28 11 80.
EMAIL – foodcrime@food.gov.uk.
Please quote the alert number A002 in correspondence. Our processes enable us to handle information discreetly.

Read full alert.