To think it should be a criminal offence to intentionally maliciously report benefit fraud when no fraud is happening

[IneedAsockamnesty]

I'm obviously not talking about genuinely fraudulent claims just the ones where none exists and are done to cause honest people problems.

Apparently over 90% (trying to remember where i got that info from)of calls to the fraud hotline are not genuine something I can well believe given that when I worked for the dwp the vast majority of the reports we got were quite obviously malicious that resulted in findings of no fraud and many other area depts reported the same thing.

The other steps we take to combat fraud such as data matching are really very effective, investigating these claims costs money both for the dwp/hmrc and for the claimant and can be very upsetting.

Obviously reports should still be semi anonymously made just only anon with regards to the claimant getting the info.

Personally I couldn't do that to someone even if I had fallen out with them but lots of people do.

I see why the need for anonymity but it is really hard to be objective when someone reports you. We had a tough time for few years and yes we did need to claim benefits. During that time the same person made malicious reports to the benefits agency and ss. This person is friends with my ex and I know it was her by what was said. She is a toxic jealous person and I know of 3 other people who have had similar reports to one or both agencies who also believe the same person is behind it.

Needless to say neither agency found anything untoward in mine or any of the other reports but it was really very stressful especially occurring whilst dtg was in hospital.

Some people are actually pure evil and one of the biggest reliefs of coming off benefits is the peace of mind - I would actually say that has made life easier than having more money (although that is lovely too!)

Sock for saying that, both that it should be greater, and that what I'm talking about does exist and I'm not just a trouble maker.

I've been on the receiving end of a two/three pronged attacks to many times, possibly co-incidence or possibly one party using the behaviour of the other to keep up the pressure for their own ends, and where someone says smoke seen there might be fire attitudes of the third lot.

You end up knowing you're both paranoid, and they are out to get you!

The number of times that a direct to my face blackmail threat from on high of CP investigation* if I do or don't continue a legal action on behalf of dc has been issued, followed co-incidentally (?) by fraud investigation from several separate depts DWP, TC, HMRC just at the point I'm warning court action and stressed through doing that and need to focus my energies on it not unfounded malicious claims, is becoming remarkable.

Unhelped by the deep unhappiness of some of my neighbours who don't like dc's educational success, or my disabled parking space, or me being dilapidated social housing, and one neighbour with severe MH problems, and I become multiply maliciously targeted.

• as soon as too old to threaten that it's become blackmail of withdrawing funding if I don't agree to ignore something very wrong, followed by another HMRC investigation directly linked.

They should be investigated, sacked, competantly and using due process and no unfair dismisal payout available because of how it was done, and brought to bloody justice for their abuse of power and knowingly deflecting much needed resources. (and then hung, drawn, and quatered!)

Mrs D It is the carefully placed words and phrases, and the uninquiring minds of those reading them, that are so killing and chilling.

I agree some people are like this, it's not very nice. This was years ago as my other half is 28 now but when his mum split up with his step-dad and moved in with another man, the ex was so jealous and reported her for fraud to. :S Back then though it was a bit different, DP just said someone visited the house and looked for things like an extra toothbrush, men's clothes etc (she wasn't living with him yet either, he was still in his house with ex-wife!) maybe some people know even without proof they get stopped for a while so it will cause some hassle to the person so they do it for revenge etc?

I actually only learned that from MN that they stop everything. I claim wtc and I fell out with an ex friend in 2011 when I first moved away, she said she was going to report me (even though I wasn't claiming anything I wasn't entitled to) i remember thinking go ahead, they won't find anything but in reality I still probably would of lost everything for a few months and would of been screwed whilst they sorted it! Nasty cow she was.

JustGetting,

To you have a disabled child with additional educational needs per chance?

Do you not to you

I understand that there can be harm done when malicious reports are made, but I'd rather see the entire system managed better than see people being prosecuted because they incorrectly suspect someone else has committed a crime.

It would be very hard to prove that a report was made maliciously rather than out of genuine concern because you can never have concrete proof of what is going through someone else mind. People who would report maliciously are probably very capable of lying.

If the benefit system was run more efficiently then all claimants would have to prove they are in genuine need anyway, it's not unreasonable to expect people who need state money to live on to show why they need it.

The DWP should be checking people as a matter of course already, and if they do it properly they will be able to have confidence in the fact that they claim they have already agreed to is genuine. There should be no need for people to have to go through numerous investigations, one is enough. If the claim changes, then investigate it as it should be anyway before a payment is made, and stand by the results of that.

You can ignore others suspicions when you are the only one in possession of the facts.

It's worse if your on DLA as any allegation of fraud will result in you being switched to PIP and no longer able to even try and claim DLA no matter what the investigation finds!

So a nasty phone call and you could lose your DLA for good even if nothing's fraudulent

MrsD, I'd have been a grass then if I really thought this person was guilty of multiple malicious reportings, you were very restrained.

When my neighbour threatened to report me over the children I was so worried (had visions of them turning up and taking the kids into care while they investigated) I phoned SS first and the police to talk to them about the threats (she had also made other absurd claims). SS totally put me at ease and when they heard her name actually started asking me if I was concerned about HER children in any way.

It would be hard to prove the person hadn't just made a mistake anyway.

This is true, but to me this just suggests that the person reporting also needs to undergo an interview, so it can be checked for that they understand what exactly it is they're allegedly reporting, and the ramifications of their actions.

I was falsely reported for benefit fraud by someone who said my boyfriend had moved in when he hadn't. Obviously, seeing as he didn't live with me (at the time) it was easy enough to prove, but still. I don't know if the person doing it had done it entirely out spite, or if they were doing it just on the off chance that there was something illegal in me having a sex life- but there's no way it could've been an innocent mistake. The details they gave meant that they would have had to have known us both- and therefore they almost certainly would have known he was still living in his flat.

It's just too easy for people to fill out a form online saying accusing anybody of anything just because they don't know that you're not breaking the law- or even to make up total bollocks purely to cause trouble.

WooWoo They do quite a lot of checks to be fair, even when you haven't had any changes! I often get random spot checks from the council asking for updated childcare costs (so i have to go nursery and get it stamped by them) and recently they randomly just asked for my latest two payslips. and I've had a compliance check by tax credits to where I had to send all my receipts and a headed letter from nursery with the costs on it. I had to pay a £10 admin fee to get that from nursery to. Now i just pay direct debit only so if they do another i can just print off bank statements.

There are some very nasty people around, and being able to report anonymously re benefits fraud and, even nastier as it is so personal to SS, is an absolute gift to them. There should be a special hell for those people IMO.

There is a thread at the moment, a poster wants to report DV and child abuse anonymously to ss because she is terrified of the perpetrator and doesn't want anything to trace back to her. So of course you should be able to do so anonymously.

I don't get how reporting maliciously does anything anyhow. I reported the bitch cleaner that tricked my grandfather out of 2 cars and 20k cash - it was a legitimate report, she was on unemployment benefits and other help whilst working very lucratively for cash in hand... Nothing came of it. I was hoping with the recent reports of heavy handedness on benefit frauds that she would go to prison... Wishful thinking I guess. Should have realised if she was able to manipulate our whole family she could easily manipulate the dwp folks too.

To think it should be a criminal offence to intentionally maliciously report benefit fraud when no fraud is happening

it may already be, proving it was malicious would be very hard though.

Sock I am a visibly disabled parent with a disabled child with SEN and a statement.
Neither of us claim DLA, (which makes some of the reporting cynically funny) though I've been summoned by ATOS for a PIP interview which seems to be about a new system where it's automatic if you're in 'support group'?

Woo Woo big difference between 'genuinely' suspecting and knowingly either personal or politically motivated malicious reporting.

I was wrongly accused of benefit fraud a few years ago. I would bet my last pound it was my evil ndn.

My (then) dp had moved in with me and my dcs about a month prior to my visit from a fraud investigator. I was at work and missed them so phoned the next day and was told they had been informed that my partner had been living with me for 6 months and that they had to take a statement from me and that they would then decide how to proceed!

I have never been so stressed in my life! I hadnt done anything wrong and was so worried i would never be able to prove it.

I got bank statements, dh's address info, a reference from my boss and a statement from my landlord to prove dispute with ndn.

The case was rightly dropped.

I cant believe people get a kick out of making false allegations.

I completely agree that something needs to be done about false reports.

I don't know what to do about malicious reports to social services, but I think that where benefits are concerned, we could easily introduce a rule that once someone has been cleared by a fraud team, they can't be investigated again for another year.

Woo Woo big difference between 'genuinely' suspecting and knowingly either personal or politically motivated malicious reporting.

Of course there is, but how do you prove what's going on inside someone else's head?

Is it ok to make a report out of spite because you've fallen out with someone who you know is committing fraud, or is that allowed?

Why report people anyway? Unless you know there is no doubt, why risk hurting innocent people.
it's not only fraud, its this whole thing about crime being reported, crimestoppers has to be the worst. So many innocent people have their lives changed over night, its awful to experience.

There is a thread at the moment, a poster wants to report DV and child abuse anonymously to ss because she is terrified of the perpetrator and doesn't want anything to trace back to her. So of course you should be able to do so anonymously

This would not be a problem if the investigators knew you details but were not allowed to pass them to the claimant or accused person

Woohoo

The same way all the other crimes that rely on intent. And yes of course if someone's actually doing it report to anybody whose willing to listen.