BENEFIT cheats, who last year conned nearly half a million pounds from council coffers, are increasingly being shopped by fed-up taxpayers.
As many families tighten their belts during the economic downturn, more calls are being made to the Island’s fraud hotline.
Isle of Wight Council benefit fraud manager Dave Hook leads a team of three investigators, an officer who visits the homes of suspected fraudsters and admin support. It is among the best in the country and has been named the top performing fraud team in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for the past four years.
He said the authority was catching more cheats than ever.
"Modern methods of intelligence gathering, such as access to bank accounts and other records, data matching and surveillance operations are making it easier for us to detect fraud in the system," he said. "With the current economic climate, and the government’s high-profile campaign highlighting the cost of benefit fraud, we are seeing an increase in the number of people contacting us with information about suspected benefit fraud."
In the 2010-11 financial year, 645 cases were referred to the benefit fraud team compared to 564 cases in 2009-10. Last year, £464,693 was paid out in bogus claims compared to £422,062 in 2009-10.
Council leader Cllr David Pugh said it was money that should have been spent on public services.
"It should be a matter of concern for all hard-working Islanders to see people cheating the system and taking money they do not deserve.
"We will take any steps we can to recover the money from these offenders so it can be spent on services with limited resources, regenerating the economy and creating jobs," he said.
So far this financial year, the council has successfully prosecuted 46 benefit fraudsters.
• Suspected benefit cheats can be reported to the council on 01983 823969.
Reporter: emilyp@iwcpmail.co.uk