HL Deb 19 July 1995 vol 566 c27WA
Earl Russell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Why, in their investigation of social security fraud, Benefit Review: Report on Methodology and Findings, their category of "total fraud" includes "suggested fraud": and how strong the grounds of suspicion had to he in order to qualify for inclusion.

Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish

To confirm fraud, corroborative evidence from a third party, such as an employer, or an admission from the customer is required. Cases in which this occurred are categorised as "confirmed fraud". To omit all instances where the evidence strongly points to the claim being fraudulent, but not enough evidence is available to confirm fraud, would have given an incomplete picture of incorrectness in the payment.

Within the report the suspicions of fraud were categorised into four levels:

  1. level 1: could be genuine. Customers might have reported the change but not necessarily timeously
  2. level 2: mild suspicion that fraud exists but no proof
  3. level 3: strong suspicion that fraud exists but no proof
  4. level 4: certain that a fraudulent situation has been discovered but insufficient information/evidence to establish the fraud.

Levels 3 and 4 only were included in the "strongly suspected" fraud referred to in the report.

Chapter 12 of the report gives examples of these frauds.