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Fraud prevention in South Africa starts with people who can spot the warning signs and know how to report them. BOTI’s fraud prevention training teaches your staff to recognise, prevent and report fraud before it costs your business money, reputation and regulatory standing. It forms part of BOTI’s strategy, risk, governance and compliance training courses.
The training is practical and facilitator-led. It runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online, so every team member, from finance to the front desk, knows the red flags and the right response.
The course suits HR, L&D, operations and risk leads who want to build a fraud-resistant culture across the workforce.
The business problem this training solves
Most workplace fraud is not committed by criminal masterminds. It is enabled by ordinary employees who:
- never learned what fraud looks like;
- did not know how to report a suspicion; or
- worked in an environment where weak controls made dishonesty easy.
South African organisations face procurement fraud, false invoicing, payroll manipulation, expense abuse, asset theft, kickbacks and increasingly sophisticated email and social-engineering scams.
An alert, trained workforce is one of the most practical defences. Controls and audits often catch fraud after the fact. Trained employees help prevent it and detect it early. Fraud awareness training closes the gap between your policies on paper and what your people actually do at their desks every day.
Trained teams help your business:
- Reduce financial losses by catching red flags before transactions complete.
- Strengthen internal controls because staff understand why segregation of duties and approval limits matter.
- Meet governance and compliance expectations under King IV, the Companies Act and your own risk framework.
- Protect your reputation with clients, funders and regulators.
- Build an ethical, speak-up culture where reporting is safe and expected.
Who this course is for
This is corporate training for teams and whole departments, bought by employers for their staff. It is not a qualification for individual job-seekers. It suits South African organisations across sectors, including financial services, retail, manufacturing, public entities, NGOs and professional firms.
It is designed for:
- Finance, accounts payable and procurement staff who handle invoices, payments, suppliers and cash.
- Managers and team leaders responsible for approvals, oversight and setting the tone.
- HR and payroll teams exposed to ghost-employee and payroll fraud risks.
- Risk, compliance and internal-audit officers who own the control environment.
- Frontline and operational employees who are often the first to notice something is wrong.
- Executives and directors who carry governance accountability under King IV.
Because fraud risk touches every role, BOTI recommends training cross-functional groups together. That way your whole organisation shares one language and one standard of vigilance.
What the course covers (outline and modules)
The programme is practical and scenario-led. It uses realistic workplace fraud cases and, where possible, your own business context. Core modules include:
| # | Module | What your team learns |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Understanding fraud | Definitions, the fraud triangle (pressure, opportunity, rationalisation), the true cost of fraud to a business |
| 2 | Types of workplace fraud | Asset misappropriation, financial-statement fraud, corruption, procurement and tender fraud, payroll and expense fraud |
| 3 | Red flags and warning signs | Behavioural, transactional and process indicators staff can spot in everyday work |
| 4 | Cyber-enabled and external fraud | Phishing, business email compromise, invoice redirection, social engineering, identity fraud |
| 5 | Internal controls that prevent fraud | Segregation of duties, approval limits, reconciliations, vendor verification, why controls exist |
| 6 | Detecting and investigating | Early-detection techniques, preserving evidence, escalation paths, the basics of an internal investigation |
| 7 | Reporting and whistleblowing | Safe reporting channels, the Protected Disclosures Act, protection from retaliation |
| 8 | Ethics, governance and the law | King IV, the Companies Act, PRECCA, an ethical decision-making framework |
| 9 | Building a fraud-resistant culture | Tone from the top, ongoing awareness, embedding vigilance into daily routines |
| 10 | Action planning | Mapping your team’s own fraud risks and committing to next steps |
When you book an in-house group session, the outline is tailored to your sector and risk profile.
BOTI can also help you draw up a one-page red-flag checklist for your own processes. Your team can keep it at their desks to spot and escalate the most common workplace fraud indicators.
Fraud risk management: where HR fits
Fraud risk management is not only a finance or audit task. HR controls several points where fraud starts or is stopped. Common HR fraud risks and controls include:
- Recruitment and vetting: checking qualifications, references and identity before appointment reduces the risk of hiring someone with falsified credentials.
- Payroll integrity: separating the people who add employees to the payroll from those who approve payments helps prevent ghost employees and unauthorised pay changes.
- Onboarding: new staff should sign and understand the code of conduct, the conflict-of-interest policy and the reporting channels from their first week.
- Consistent discipline: handling proven misconduct fairly and consistently shows staff that the policy is applied, not just published.
- Protecting whistleblowers: HR helps make sure that employees who report in good faith are not victimised, in line with the Protected Disclosures Act.
HR teams that handle misconduct cases can build on this course with Effective Disciplinary Hearing Training.
A note on POPIA and data-related fraud
Fraud and data protection increasingly overlap. Stolen personal information fuels identity fraud, and a data breach can itself be a reportable incident under the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA).
This course raises staff awareness of how personal data is exploited in fraud. It pairs naturally with dedicated POPIA training, so your team protects both the money and the data. (This module provides general guidance and awareness, not legal advice. Confirm specific obligations with your compliance or legal function.)
Teams in regulated environments that handle client onboarding can add FICA, Anti-Money Laundering and KYC Training.
Delivery formats
BOTI delivers fraud prevention training in the format that works for your business:
- In-house / on-site at your premises. This works well for groups and lets the facilitator use your own policies and scenarios.
- At BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg.
- Live online with a facilitator, for distributed and hybrid teams.
Dates, depth and case studies are arranged around your operational calendar.
Accreditation
This fraud prevention programme is a practical, facilitator-led course. It is designed to change behaviour and build a fraud-resistant culture, not to award NQF credits.
If your organisation needs an accredited route in a related area, BOTI can advise you:
- BOTI is a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider.
- BOTI also offers legacy Services SETA qualifications, such as Business Administration Services and Generic Management. The last date for new enrolment on these is 30 June 2028[1].
See BOTI’s accredited qualifications and skills programmes.
Planning fraud training in your skills development budget
Fraud prevention training can sit in your annual training plan alongside other compliance training. A few facts help when you plan it:
- The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is 1% of payroll.[2]
- Employers submit the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) and Annual Training Report (ATR) to their SETA by 30 April[3] each year.
- The mandatory grant pays back 20% of the levies paid[3]. It is only paid when the WSP/ATR is submitted on time and levy payments are up to date.
Including fraud awareness training in your Workplace Skills Plan keeps it visible in your training records. How training is treated on a B-BBEE scorecard is a matter for your verification agency.
Why BOTI
BOTI (Business Optimization Training Institute) is a South African corporate-training provider:
- a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider and a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor;
- a catalogue of over 450 courses;
- a Google rating of 4.8 from more than 770 reviews;
- clients that include Sasol, Glencore and the City of Johannesburg.
BOTI specialises in in-house and customised delivery for employers training their staff as a group:
- Tailored to your business: your policies, your risks, your real scenarios.
- Practical, not theoretical: your people leave knowing what to do on Monday morning.
- Flexible delivery: at your premises, at BOTI’s Sunningdale venue or live online.
- Built for teams: one session can cover a department or a cross-functional group.
Related BOTI courses
Build a complete compliance and risk programme by combining this course with related BOTI training:
- Sibling: Fraud Prevention and Control in an Office Environment
- Sibling: Ethics and Fraud Awareness Training
- Related: Conquering Risk Management Course: Risk Registers and Contingency Testing
- Related: POPIA Basic Training – Protection of Personal Information Act
- Related: Cyber Security Awareness Training
- Book: Request a quote / contact BOTI
Frequently asked questions
What role does HR play in fraud risk management?
HR controls several fraud risk points: vetting candidates before appointment, keeping payroll changes separate from payment approval, onboarding staff on the code of conduct and reporting channels, applying discipline consistently, and protecting employees who report in good faith under the Protected Disclosures Act.
Who should attend fraud awareness training?
Any employee who handles money, data, suppliers, approvals or sensitive processes should attend. That includes finance, procurement, HR, payroll, managers and frontline staff. Because fraud risk is organisation-wide, BOTI recommends training cross-functional groups together.
Is BOTI’s fraud prevention training accredited?
No. It is a practical, facilitator-led programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance. If you need an accredited route in a related area, BOTI is a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider and can advise you on its occupational certificates, skills programmes and SETA qualifications.
How is the fraud prevention course delivered?
Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online with a facilitator for remote and hybrid teams.
Can the course be tailored to our sector?
Yes. For in-house groups, BOTI builds the case studies and risk scenarios around your industry, your policies and your real fraud exposures, from procurement fraud in supply chain to invoice-redirection scams in finance.
Request a quote
Ready to build a fraud-resistant workforce? BOTI’s three-day Fraud Prevention and Control in an Office Environment course gives your team the knowledge and habits to prevent, detect and report fraud. It can be shaped around your business’s real risks and policies.
Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online. Call BOTI on 011 882 8853 or email [email protected].
This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Request a quote · Call 011 882 8853 · Business Optimization Training Institute (BOTI), boti.co.za
Sources
- Pre-2009 Extended Qualifications – South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), June 2026.
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.