Is it ever OK to report anyone?

I would report car offences if it was stuck outside or near my house, the other things are unlikely to affect me and I wouldn't be sure about them anyway so no.

Yes, I never actually hear of this happening in real life, only on an anonymous internet forum. And I live in a housing association flat surrounded by benefit claimants!

Well I’m telling you that my friend’s partner told me, and others. My friend also confirmed it, as she was stressed about it. So I guess you think I’m lying 🤷🏻‍♀️. Anyway I chose not to report him. But I was tempted.

Well if housing benefit had stopped while they were investigating then probably due to rent arrears

Because I find it hard to believe that anyone could know for sure. Unless you have seen their bank accounts. And sorry, but I do not believe that so many people would go around telling all and sundry that they were committing fraud.

I very nearly reported a friend’s partner for serious tax evasion (100% sure it was happening as he told me 😏) which is still ongoing. I couldn’t bring myself to do it in the end though.

How? Unless you go snooping online to see if car was taxed? And why is your life so sad that you have nothing better to do?

Do you not realize that if a car is not taxed then anpr cameras will soon pick it up anyway

No Snitches get stitches. Really how would doing so improve your life? If it's just a case in of having a moral high ground don't bother

And many of us have said we know for sure but you've dismissed that. 🙃

No, we don't think it's OK. We just don't want to do something that may have life changing negative impacts on someone without ensuring that we are 100% certain.

And we live in a society where a far larger amount in benefits goes unclaimed than is lost in fraud; we are able to see the bigger picture, unlike some.

No, I do not think it is OK. But I stated my reasons for not reporting. That unless I knew intricate details of someone's finances, I could not be 100% sure that fraud was being committed, and I would never report something like that unless I knew 100% that it was happening.

Do posters who wouldn't report people who commit fraud think it's ok to commit fraud? Would they do it too? Or is it the reporting itself that they disapprove of.

Maybe they need to introduce cash rewards for people who report fraudsters. Maybe they already do it.

I’m not a 12 year old girl therefore I can’t decipher what emojis are supposed to mean in place of words. Can you use words instead?

I wouldn't be nosy enough to notice or care if people were possibly committing these violations. If I saw someone beating their kids or partner then I would tell the police though.

Miserable old scrote! Glad she got what she earned.

🤓

Many years ago I worked in Benefits. Most of the people who notified us of anyone fiddling were people already struggling on benefits who knew someone who'd moved in with a partner earning great money and still claiming for themselves. They felt it was unfair seeing someone flashing the cash on foreign holidays and wanted them stopped.

We also used to get elderly ladies coming in after their husbands had died to tell us they'd found out the deceased partner had loads of savings they'd concealed from them. I remember one in particular who was actually happy he'd died, and the icing on the cake was the huge amount he'd squirrelled away. Yes they'd been overpaid, she paid it back and then enjoyed spending it as he'd kept her short of money all their married life.

Unless it was about a DV issue, or child protection concerns, i wouldn’t report anyone for anything.

It’s illegal to watch live TV even on streaming services or any BBC shows with a TV license.

Well said.

Law abiding people have less money in their bank due to these fraudsters, the fact many companies dodge taxes doesn’t make it OK for individuals to commit benefit fraud.

As a law abiding person I don’t see why law breakers should reap more rewards in life than I do.

It’s the same as the pathetic ‘don’t be a grass’ mentality. Embarrassing and childish to suggest it’s wrong to report even small crimes.

Why would anyone care if someone is not paying a tv licence?

There’s lots of things that I would have no hesitation on reporting someone for, child / family safety issues etc. but absolutely not for TV Licence, car tax or even benefit fraud.

My ex-MIL is the biggest benefit fraudster I have ever heard of in my life, but I will never report her because she was extremely kind to me, has helped me a lot and looked out for me when her son was abusing me and refused to defend his behavior.

She claims money from her home domicile for a disability she doesn't have, she gets about $2,000 per month. Then she receives PIP for another disability she also doesn't have, which is about £350, and then she also receives an allowance for a carer to come to her home which is about £200 or so a month. She does not actually need a carer, so she launders it through her son who she is 'employing' by sending it to his bank account and having him send it back to her. She also does not declare taxes on 750 per month from her lodger (honestly, fair enough).

She also crowdfunded £1,000 to renovate her bathroom which she advertised on Facebook. One of her neighbours confronted her for this after a few weeks later she put out an advert for a babysitter for her youngest son.

Quite a sophisticated scam, to her credit. Like I said, I won't report her because deep down I know she is a decent person of good character who has had a lot of bad luck in her life and I do feel bad for her that both her sons are such pitiful losers. Also, the fact that her eldest son is such a pitiful loser and criminal is not entirely her own fault.

I agree.
Only on Mumsnet will people whine endlessly about the state of the country while making out that anyone committing benefit fraud is a modern day Robin Hood, stealing only from the rich.

Why would u care if someone is not paying their TV license? It's not illegal and I don't want to give my money to misogyny and genocide propagandists.

Benefits fraud, however? That's YOUR tax money being wasted on someone who isn't entitled to it, so yes, report it.