#benefit fraud

The number of municipalities in the Netherlands implementing anonymous tip lines for welfare fraud continues to rise, with more than 200 local governments now offering residents a way to report suspected abuses. However, the expansion has drawn criticism from opponents who argue the system fosters distrust and unfairly targets welfare recipients. A study by EenVandaag found that as of early 2025, 208 of the country’s 342 municipalities—approximately 61 percent—operate some form of welfare fraud reporting mechanism, an increase from 196 municipalities in 2021. These tip lines typically allow individuals to submit reports online or via telephone. In contrast, 26 municipalities, including Leiden, have abolished their reporting systems due to concerns over fairness and social cohesion. Leiden’s city council voted to dismantle its welfare fraud reporting system following a motion introduced by SP council member Thomas van Halm, who described such mechanisms as “inhumane and stigmatizing.” “It creates fear and uncertainty for people on welfare, even though municipal agencies already have dedicated fraud enforcement departments,” Van Halm said. “These hotlines don’t add anything except distrust and division in our society.”

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“Everything is dark. A siren yelps, drums kick in, police in riot helmets march up a stairwell, and a man – his head out of shot – zips up a black stab vest marked ‘DWP’.

“It’s Tom Pursglove, a Tory minister of the Matt Hancock aesthetic (Foxtons Tintin), tabard strapped over his suit, standing beside a tree. Brow furrowed, he quasi-quotes Liam Neeson’s ex-CIA maverick in the 2008 film Taken: ‘We will track you down. We will find you. And we will bring you to justice.’ ...

“This is the Department for Work and Pensions’ latest campaign warning against welfare fraud. It was tweeted from the department’s account last Thursday morning, with a take-on-Taken caption: ‘At DWP we have a very particular set of skills that we use in conjunction with the police to tackle fraud.’

This is fucked up on so many levels.

We need to resist it in the strongest possible terms.

By MDBayNews Staff A former Washington, D.C. public school teacher will serve one year in jail after being convicted of felony insurance theft, according to an announcement this week from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General. The case centers on a multi-year scheme in which the former educator collected tens of thousands of dollars in insurance benefits while continuing to work and earn…

Actually seen people make that comment themselves, with their full fucking chests, as if it's acceptable.

But, as we unfortunately all know by now, the people who don't already see any problem with the policies aren't going to change their minds if you appeal to their humanity through the concept of "killing people is generally frowned upon" and "unnecessary human suffering is generally considered a bad thing", as they'll inevitably make the argument that getting the moochers off of benefits saves money and I just want to make it absolutely, one hundred percent, fully clear, that this argument is entirely incorrect.

Every single time it's been looked into, we have discovered that the cost of chasing benefit fraud is ALWAYS greater than the cost of what benefit fraud is found.

Listen, read that again.

Do you understand what I just said?

Every time, no exceptions. It's always more expensive to chase benefit fraud than the cost of whatever benefit fraud is found.

It's not a little difference either.

It's somewhere between 15 times more expensive and 150 times more expensive.

What that means that chasing benefit fraud costs at least 15 times more money than just leaving it be.

And when they DO find benefit fraud, more than 90% of the time it's not actually fraud. It's misunderstandings, or misfilings.

Meaning, the person they find to be fraudulent usually actually qualifies for benefits, their paperwork just needs to be updated.

MEANWHILE, THERE'S A SECOND PROBLEM THAT HAPPENS!

The more emphasis there's placed on fighting benefit fraud, the more likely it is that someone is erroneously flagged as fraudulent.

This is not the same thing as the mistakes or misfilings aforementioned. These are disabled people who have all their papers in order, but are STILL being flagged by an overzealous system that's desperately trying to prove that there's a reason for it to exist.

The things created to find benefit fraud need to show that they're finding benefit fraud to continue to get funded by the governments that create them. They need to show that they're being successful. So they will always flag people without due cause.

This can lead to lawsuits which are very costly for the governments, as well as literal deaths of human beings who are being wrongfully denied their rights.

TLDR; Best case scenario, this is expensive AND it kills people. It NEVER saves taxpayer money. It HAS NEVER BEEN cost effective.

These sorts of policies have NEVER resulted in genuinely positive results.

This is so well documented that it's impossible for a semi-competent government to be completely unaware of this.