Welsh Cycling victims of £57k cyber fraud scam in 2023

Welsh Cycling - now Beicio Cymru - lost £57k last year after being caught out by a large cyber fraud scam, with the loss not being covered by the national governing body’s insurance policy at the time.

Cycling Weekly has seen an email sent to members by Caroline Spanton, the organisation’s chief executive officer, in December 2023 which confirms the crime took place and states that the governing body's end of year deficit for 2022/23 almost doubled as a result. 

"Welsh Cycling were the victim of cyber fraud in the early part of 2023," Spanton wrote to members. "Subsequently we called upon our cyber insurance to respond and protect us against the loss. Due to an oversight in the administration of our financial processes, we were informed in October 2023 that the cyber insurance policy would not respond to the claim."

She continued: "As the loss we suffered occurred in the 2022/23 financial year, in line with correct accountancy practices, the loss must be attributed to that year. The outcome of this is that the financial position of Welsh Cycling for the financial year 2022/23 is now different from that which was presented at the AGM. 

"The losses from the fraud incident totalled £57 meaning that the total deficit for the year has increased from £45k (presented at the AGM) to £102k. Please note immediately on becoming aware of the incident, we reviewed and strengthened our financial processes to reduce the chances of Welsh Cycling falling victim to cyber fraud again."

When contacted by Cycling Weekly this week, a spokesperson for Beicio Cymru (formerly Welsh Cycling) confirmed that the email was genuine, and that the organisation had been victims of fraud. It is unknown if a criminal investigation into the matter took place.

It is understood that Beicio Cymru were indeed not covered by the correct insurance at the time, but that has now changed. They declined to comment any further on the matter. 

Cyber fraud has recently rapidly increased in the UK. Earlier this year, it was reported by The Guardian that the amount of fraud committed in the UK in 2023 increased to almost £2.3 billion, which marked the second biggest year for scams in the last two decades.