Seven ways DWP will detect benefit fraud - including your neighbours

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has explained the seven most common ways it collects evidence of benefit fraud - confirming it can speak to your neighbours if it has concerns. Details released in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request show the common ways the DWP can catch people it suspects of fraud.

That includes video surveillance and speaking to the person who first reported you - and it can include interviewing people who live near you, reports The Record.

The DWP is cracking down on fraud after the latest figures show overpayments rose 3.7% to £9.7billion last year. The most common types of fraud see people claim while they are working, or saying they are living alone when they are not. A spokesman for the DWP said: “During a DWP investigation we would not routinely seek information from a neighbour. There may be exceptional circumstances where they may provide a witness statement as investigators are required by law to pursue all reasonable lines of enquiry whether these point towards or away from a suspect.”

They added that neighbours would not be asked to secretly record you - but investigators may carry out covert surveillance.

During the current financial year, the DWP will measure a sample of claims from six specific benefits as part of its fraud and error exercise.

• Universal Credit

• Housing Benefit (pension age, passported cases)

• Pension Credit

• State Pension

• Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• Carer’s Allowance

Common examples of benefit fraud

• faking an illness or injury to get unemployment or disability benefits

• failing to report income from a business or employment to make income seem lower than it actually is

• living with someone who contributes to the household income without declaring that income to the authorities

• falsifying accounts to make it seem like a person has less money than they say they do

Fraud investigators have a wide range of powers which enable them to gather evidence in a number of ways, including surveillance, interviews, and document tracing. Under new proposals, these powers will widen to include executing warrants, search and seizure of evidence and even making arrests.

What happens during a DWP investigation?

If the DWP is going to start a formal investigation against you, they will notify you either in writing, by telephone, or email. In the early stages of an investigation, you may not be told that one is underway until the DWP has assessed whether there is good reason to formally investigate a potential case of fraud.

DWP investigators are allowed to gather many types of evidence against a potentially fraudulent claimant.

Most common types of evidence

• inspector reports from surveillance activities

• photographs or videos

• audio recordings

• correspondence

• financial data, including bank statements

• interviews with you or people you know

• any evidence submitted by those who reported you

One common form of benefit fraud is falsely reporting income, or failure to report it altogether. If you are claiming unemployment benefits but are seen to attend a workplace, the DWP may talk to the owner or manager of that business to find out exactly why you are there, what work you are doing and how much you are being paid.

Investigators may also check your social media accounts and search your online profiles for pictures, location check-ins, and other evidence which may or may not be useful to them. Those who use social media a lot will leave a trail of their life and habits, often allowing investigators to piece together a picture of what that person’s life actually looks like.

If this is not consistent with the details of that person’s claim for benefits, that evidence may end up being used against them.

False reports of benefit fraud are common in the UK, with some studies indicating there are around 140,000 made each year.