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Original poster

BENEFIT FRAUD

32 replies

noddyholder · 11/09/2005 08:52

I have just found out that someone I know is doing this in a big way I don't really know what to think and I wouldn't report her/them.She lives an amazing life and I know why now.It has made me feel differently about them as friends IYKWIM but it seems a fair few people know and don't mind.I just think that when i next speak to her I will feel a it strange as she is always talking about their next purchase or holiday They even own several properties!!I don't know why I posted but needed to get it off my chest as it has been bugging me

OP posts:
misdee · 11/09/2005 08:53

could you live with yourself if you shop her?

mancmum · 11/09/2005 08:54

could you live with yourself if you did not? The thought of someone defrauding us and buying properties when the rest of us working hard legally struggle to pay mortgages make me mad... give me their details -- I will shop them!

LadyTophamHatt · 11/09/2005 08:55

It would piss me right off, and I'd have trouble not reporting her.

Original poster
noddyholder · 11/09/2005 08:56

No I have known her for years and just couldn't.I do like her and don't think there is anything to gain by that but I do see why people do.She has a life most people can only dream of and when i was ill the benefits people told us to sell our house and we did!!So I do feel cheated in a way but wouldn't shop her.I am amazed as the way they have managed to do this and create a great life I never associated that with benefit fraud

OP posts:
Nightynight · 11/09/2005 08:57

If they own several properties and go on hols a lot, Id shop them.

I haven't been on a holiday since 1998.

zippitippitoes · 11/09/2005 09:04

It's a long way from doing a few bits cash in hand here and there...you mean they have created different identities?

Original poster
noddyholder · 11/09/2005 09:07

TBH I don't know how they've done it but I don't think they've done that

OP posts:
katymac · 11/09/2005 09:12

How would you feel if your friend was knocking on little old ladies doors and going in to stealing their pension. I know there is no violence involved - but it is stealing from you and everyone else who pays tax or receives benefit

rummum · 11/09/2005 09:14

what exactly have they done??? ie..not declaring earnings.. saying they are disabled and claiming disability allowance???
and if "a fair few people know" they haven't been very discrete have they..
I wonder how they sleep at night...

zippitippitoes · 11/09/2005 09:15

There is a dedicated website for Tackling Benefit Fraud

Targetting Benefit Fraud

I would be asking myself why am i paying to fund her lavish criminal lifestyle.

Earlybird · 11/09/2005 09:17

How did you find out about it?

Original poster
noddyholder · 11/09/2005 09:35

I don't want to go into it too much but another close friend was talking to me about it as if I knew I am not shocked as I know this sort of thing goes on but I would be unwilling to shop them as it were because I would be worried about consequences I feel that they will get what they deserve eventually

OP posts:
LadyTophamHatt · 11/09/2005 09:38

I'm sure it's annonamouse(sp?) to report someone.

Nemo1977 · 11/09/2005 09:39

sorry but I agree with others. Having worked and now not working it makes my blood boil that people can claim so much off the system when others are living in dire financial circumstances. I really dont know how they manage it, everyone I know who is on benefits barely has enough money.

charliecat · 11/09/2005 09:40

The people I know on benefits, because the other half is also working are dribbing in designer labels.

Carla · 11/09/2005 09:42

It would really hack me off. If it were me, I don't think I would go as far as reporting her (although I know it's right to do so) but I couldn't feel the same way about her as a friend ever again.

Original poster
noddyholder · 11/09/2005 09:45

thats how i feel carla There is no way i would shop her but am disappointed and hope she sees sense at some point

OP posts:
bonkerz · 11/09/2005 09:47

Totally agree with everyone else but understand it must be hard for you. I am in a similar situation. The people i know are in my family and have a 5 bed council house, a caravan and laminate flooring throughout. The kids have play stations and computers and they drive a new car and they have been on benefits for 8 years! Although these people are members of my family I hate the fact that their children have more than mine and yet DH and I work 45+ hours per week. Im sure they have got the money by exacggerating medical conditions till they get DLA etc. They even get an extra £44 per week for their 8 year old who had mild ADHD and they let him play out in street for hours but claim he needs extra care!!!
It has started to annoy me even more recently when i found i may not be entitled to MA just because im on a low income!! Am seriously considering shopping them and these are my family! We really do have to do something about the injustice of the system!

zippitippitoes · 11/09/2005 09:51

Noddy

It is the scale you describe in your OP which is shocking, you seem to be suggesting that she has invested in property on the back of the fraud so you are not talking about a few thousand pounds, which would be bad enough.

The most common way to do this on a large scale is to take the identity of a dead person etc

Original poster
noddyholder · 11/09/2005 10:02

zippi It is nothing like that more a case of them being v clever tbh I don't want to go into the specifics because she may be on here for all I know I wish i hadn't started this now!I just felt that it would be the end of our friendship which was why I posted really.

OP posts:
tallulah · 11/09/2005 10:12

I can never understand how this works. When DH was made redundant we had so little money coming in (I was a SAHM at the time with a 10 month old baby) that we couldn't even afford to buy coffee, yet I know people on benefit who can afford to run cars, go abroad and have horse-riding lessons. The whole system needs a huge shake up.

expatinscotland · 11/09/2005 10:16

Wow! As someone who lives at poverty line whilst paying staggering taxes, people like that make it harder for all of us to get along. Benefits fraud cost the British taxpayer £2b/annum. Don't know how much that works out to per taxpayer, but I do know I could use more money to help us pay rent, buy food, etc.

Haven't had a holiday in 3 years - there's no money for even a weekend away.

Benefits fraud is a crime. Would you feel badly shopping them if you found out they financed their lifestyle by picking people's pockets or mugging them for their purses? B/c that's what they're doing.

staceym11 · 11/09/2005 10:18

Its a hard deal, but these people do need reporting. me and dh are living with my parents because he only earns 14k a year, yet im not entitled to any benefits because he works full time. we are living comfortably and would still cope quite reasonably if we werent living with my parents but that isnt the point, we are considered low income but can't get a lot of help, unless we rent, which i see as a waste of money. so we get stuck in a rut. if we recieved benefits it would make life so much easier, but i aint gunna lie for it!!! i think you should shop them but understand y you cant!

expatinscotland · 11/09/2005 10:21

I'd have no problem shopping my own mother for fraud like this. I really wouldn't.

PeachyClair · 11/09/2005 10:24

I had a friend like that- I say Had, they drove me loopy! She never worked and he was unemployed and bankrupted yet they drove brand new cars, had really masiive houses and were flying all over the world. He ended up on the run in (I think) the East, too many finance types after him, she lives with the bailiffs / threats etc but still has a fab house and money to send her son to a private nursery. Your friends won't get away with it, they'll end up in a huge financial mess like this couple.

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