Old Mutual (Malawi) plc has launched a fraud awareness campaign to minimise risks and curb insurance fraud in the country.

In an interview, Old Mutual (Malawi) plc group customer experience executive Linda Poya said the campaign will focus on educating the masses on fraud detection and prevention.

She said the company has been prompted to start the campaign following a rise of fraudulent activities in the industry.

Poya said: “As the financial services industry continue to progress in technology, we are aware that the chances of increased fraudulent activities are high, since innovation attracts new risks.

“As a responsible business, it is our top priority to ensure that these incidences are prevented. Innovation should not come at a cost to the customers.”

Poya said through the initiative, they hope to build trust and foster better relationships with customers.

The development also follows recent revelations that in the health insurance alone, medical aid schemes have become easy targets for fraudsters costing the country’s private healthcare system nearly 40 percent of premiums paid out annually to service providers.

The suspected scam involves health facilities, medical aid members, medical personnel and pharmacies, who collude and present bogus claims to the health insurance firms.

In addition to fraud, which mainly involves billing for services not rendered, billing for more expensive services than the actual ones provided, billing non-covered services, misrepresenting services, over-utilisation of services and false or unnecessary issuance of prescription drugs, waste and abuse are other factors contributing to high percentage of fraudulent claims.

The post Old Mutual moves to curb insurance fraud appeared first on The Nation Online.