ACCA Fraud Podcast: It’s war and you’re on the front line!

The ACCA’s new global report, "Combatting fraud in a perfect storm", published today, it reveals how fraud is mutating faster than organisations can respond!  

“This is a war, and you’re on the frontline”, was the message in the ACCA podcast interview with David Clarke, Guildhawk’s Chief Security Officer the former Director of the City of London Police National Fraud Intelligence Bureau and Chair of the UK’s Fraud Advisory Panel.      

Link to the ACCA Podcast here. 

The report is produced in collaboration with Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Association of Corporate Investigators, Airmic (Association for Insurance & Risk), The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (The CISI), ISC2, and IIA-The Institute of Internal Auditors.   

Based on insights from 2,044 professionals and 250+ experts around the world, the report explores how, with the assistance of AI, fraud is now industrialised, converging across value and supply chains and outpacing conventional controls. It is a wake-up call none of us can ignore! 

Video showcasing Guildhawk's digital human avatar services in contrast to deepfakes 

Asked what organisations must do to protect themselves from fraud and cybercrime in the AI age, David stressed that whilst powerful AI tools like fake news detection tools can be used to fight AI, the number one priority is education, saying, “Your people are your best defence against bad actors, even those using super smart AI.”  

Remarkably, the ACCA survey found that 62% overall say fraud awareness training is important – but just 30% say it’s tailored to their role. To improve learning and increase fraud resilience in the AI age, David has three top tips: 

1. Train your people with immersive learning in their language: Look at MetaCompliance and Guildhawk’s ISO-secure avatar videos available in multiple languages to guarantee understanding. 
2. Ban in-house AI ‘pet projects’ because the vast majority fail and increase risk – see the Gartner report: Instead buy proven ISO-secure AI products that protect your data like Microsoft and GAI Translate (build on the Microsoft enterprise stack). 
3. Education, education, education: Take inspiration from ACCA, ACFE, Airmic, City of London Police, Fraud Advisory Panel and Barclays who’ve united to fight fraud. Start by signing-up to International Fraud Awareness Week and getting free training from Cyber Griffin.                

Quoting Sir Edmund Burke, David closed by saying ‘the bad people had combined’, but the good people have too, and together we will win this war.  

David was interviewed by Rachael Johnson, Global Head of Risk Management and Corporate Governance for Policy & Insights at ACCA. 

International Fraud Awareness Week is a global campaign organised by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), where organisations around the world are united to emphasise the importance of fraud detection and prevention every November. ACFE is in a strategic partnership with Guildhawk since 2025. 

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