Full headline from Mail Online 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15050505/Benefit-fraudsters-claiming-500million-year-abroad-Ministers-urged-grip-Mail-probe-reveals-abuse.html

Benefit fraudsters claiming £500million a year from abroad: Ministers urged to get a grip after Mail probe reveals abuse

Quote

Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) data shows that £423 million in benefits was claimed by fraudsters living outside the UK in 2024/25.

No mention in the article however on basic state pension fraud from abroad

 

 

 

Presumably they would be claiming the exact same amount if they were living in the UK......the problem is they are spending it abroad?

 

Out of interest I asked A1 to bring up Daily Mail headlines chasing down the wealthy who avoid/evade tax.......

 

 "After combing extensively through their coverage of this matter, I can confirm: the Daily Mail has not run a headline in recent years that explicitly targets the wealthy as a class for tax avoidance or evasion".

I think it is that if say you are here in Thailand you do not get any increase despite what the UK gives to people in the UK. This in my opinion is wrong but that is not what this topic is about. Some people I am assuming here is that they use a UK address so they get the annual increases. Increases they would not get if they registered a Thai address.

Why it matters if you have a Thai address I dont know but I do consider it to be wrong. The DWP will say you have left the UK which I guess is true but you are still a UK citizen.

If they want to save money cut the handouts to those entering the UK illegally.

9 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

I think it is that if say you are here in Thailand you do not get any increase despite what the UK gives to people in the UK. This in my opinion is wrong but that is not what this topic is about. Some people I am assuming here is that they use a UK address so they get the annual increases. Increases they would not get if they registered a Thai address.

Why it matters if you have a Thai address I dont know but I do consider it to be wrong. The DWP will say you have left the UK which I guess is true but you are still a UK citizen.

If they want to save money cut the handouts to those entering the UK illegally.

 

As well as those on PIP benefit, another scam many are not entitled to. I know a market trader who is on it, loads and unloads his van, sets a large stall up stands all day selling-, but can't walk far apparently

23 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

 

 

 

Presumably they would be claiming the exact same amount if they were living in the UK......the problem is they are spending it abroad?

 

 

    They wouldn't be entitled to the money if they were living abroad .

The benefits are for people living in the UK

5 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

    They wouldn't be entitled to the money if they were living abroad .

The benefits are for people living in the UK

 

....hmmmmm....and if they were back to the UK the amount of benefit they would then be claiming would be different how????????

12 minutes ago, proton said:

 

As well as those on PIP benefit, another scam many are not entitled to. I know a market trader who is on it, loads and unloads his van, sets a large stall up stands all day selling-, but can't walk far apparently

 

 

...and you have done nothing about that?......Very poor.

1 minute ago, Will B Good said:

 

....hmmmmm....and if they were back to the UK the amount of benefit they would then be claiming would be different how????????

 

   The benefits are for people living in the UK .

Benefits are not to British people living abroad .

You will be not good when you have to pay all the benefits back when they find out

Just now, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   The benefits are for people living in the UK .

Benefits are not to British people living abroad .

You will be not good when you have to pay all the benefits back when they find out

 

 

You are still missing the point I was making .......the amount of benefit they receive abroad or at home would be the same....the difference is they spend their benefits abroad.

2 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

 

 

You are still missing the point I was making .......the amount of benefit they receive abroad or at home would be the same....the difference is they spend their benefits abroad.

 

   They shouldn't be receiving any benefits if living abroad

They are making illegal benefit claims 

1 minute ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   They shouldn't be receiving any benefits if living abroad

They are making illegal benefit claims 

 

And if they lived in the UK, the benefits they would claim (now legally) would be the same benefits they claim from abroad (illegally).......so the loss to the UK is the fact that the benefits are used abroad and not in the UK economy.

 

P.S. No need to tell me they are claiming benefits illegally if living abroad.

11 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   They shouldn't be receiving any benefits if living abroad

They are making illegal benefit claims 

I’ll just leave this here……..

from Gov.uk

You can claim State Pension abroad if you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify

2 minutes ago, Free the 115 said:

I’ll just leave this here……..

from Gov.uk

You can claim State Pension abroad if you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify

Which has nothing to do with the benefits being talked about........

What point were you trying to make?

 

3 minutes ago, Free the 115 said:

I’ll just leave this here……..

from Gov.uk

You can claim State Pension abroad if you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify

 

The State Pension is classified as a “benefit”, even though it’s based on National Insurance contributions and widely perceived as an earned entitlement.

 

You might want to add that to your post to shut him up.....5555

2 minutes ago, Free the 115 said:

I’ll just leave this here……..

from Gov.uk

You can claim State Pension abroad if you’ve paid enough UK National Insurance contributions to qualify

 

   Are pensions  regarded as benefits ?

If so, we weren't talking about pensions

 

1 minute ago, topt said:

Which has nothing to do with the benefits being talked about........

What point were you trying to make?

 

 

No mention in the article however on basic state pension fraud from abroad

 

 

That might have caused some confusion

2 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 Are pensions  regarded as benefits ?

Yes they have been officially for a few year however there is no mention of pensions in that news report which is probably because in the UK gov data (I posted a link to a report in the other thread) pension fraud from overseas pensions is/are not included in the data............

5 minutes ago, Will B Good said:

 

No mention in the article however on basic state pension fraud from abroad

 

 

That might have caused some confusion

yes I deliberately pointed that out to try and avoid the inevitable downward spiralling discussion that normally happens with a couple of posters where it gets mentioned. Probably shouldn't have bothered........

5 minutes ago, topt said:

yes I deliberately pointed that out to try and avoid the inevitable downward spiralling discussion that normally happens with a couple of posters where it gets mentioned. Probably shouldn't have bothered........

 

 

Too late was the cry......555

I looked into these benefits when I recently considered returning permanently to live in the UK.  As a single pensioner of limited financial means, I would receive about 550 quid/month in rent assistance, zero council tax liability, of course free NHS, bus pass, discounted utilities, free eye check-up and glasses etc etc.

 

It would be wonderful, except there are few houses available to rent and the UK is full of Muslims.....  I think I'll forego those benefits and stay in south-east Asia!

12 minutes ago, simon43 said:

I looked into these benefits when I recently considered returning permanently to live in the UK.  As a single pensioner of limited financial means, I would receive about 550 quid/month in rent assistance, zero council tax liability, of course free NHS, bus pass, discounted utilities, free eye check-up and glasses etc etc.

 

It would be wonderful, except there are few houses available to rent and the UK is full of Muslims.....  I think I'll forego those benefits and stay in south-east Asia!

 

Probably more Muslims per head in south-east Asia.

 

Jus' sayin'

51 minutes ago, simon43 said:

I looked into these benefits when I recently considered returning permanently to live in the UK.  As a single pensioner of limited financial means, I would receive about 550 quid/month in rent assistance, zero council tax liability, of course free NHS, bus pass, discounted utilities, free eye check-up and glasses etc etc.

 

It would be wonderful, except there are few houses available to rent and the UK is full of Muslims.....  I think I'll forego those benefits and stay in south-east Asia!

 

You could try Sunderland, Hull, Stoke and a number of other places. Houses are available within your budget.

 

Under 2% of the local population are Muslim in Sunderland.

4 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Probably more Muslims per head in south-east Asia.

 

Jus' sayin'

4 hours ago, RayC said:

 

You could try Sunderland, Hull, Stoke and a number of other places. Houses are available within your budget.

 

Under 2% of the local population are Muslim in Sunderland.

The rental cost of the house isn't an issue - the wonderful UK benefits system will pay all or almost all of my rent..... It's the lack of rental properties and the number of people chasing that property to rent.

Also... given the choice of living in Hull or living in Luang Prabang, for some reason I chose the latter 🙂

This bit is quite important : 

 

Officials matched Child Benefit records with 'international travel data' to look for claimants who appeared to have moved abroad.

 

Are the Government using data from the scanning machines at airport ?

Does the Gov have  database of who is in the UK and who isnt ?

 

7 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

This bit is quite important : 

 

Officials matched Child Benefit records with 'international travel data' to look for claimants who appeared to have moved abroad.

 

Are the Government using data from the scanning machines at airport ?

Does the Gov have  database of who is in the UK and who isnt ?

 

The coalition government committed in 2010 to reintroducing exit checks. From 8 April 2015, we will collect information on passengers leaving the UK as we do for those entering.

 In 1998 embarkation checks were scrapped entirely.

Since 2004 the UK has moved to a more sophisticated approach to checks by starting to collect Advance Passenger Information (API) for both inbound and outbound air passengers. API includes the passenger’s full name, nationality, date of birth, gender and travel document number, type and country of issue.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/exit-checks-on-passengers-leaving-the-uk/exit-checks-fact-sheet#:

answer to your question is Yes

5 hours ago, simon43 said:

Also... given the choice of living in Hull or living in Luang Prabang, for some reason I chose the latter 🙂

 

So in other words, a return to the UK wouldn't be 'wonderful'.

3 hours ago, RayC said:

 

So in other words, a return to the UK wouldn't be 'wonderful'.

Have you ever been to Hull...........

10 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

This bit is quite important : 

 

Officials matched Child Benefit records with 'international travel data' to look for claimants who appeared to have moved abroad.

 

Are the Government using data from the scanning machines at airport ?

Does the Gov have  database of who is in the UK and who isnt ?

 

 

I recall when I changed the address on my UK driving license online several years ago, it presented the option to use the picture from my passport. So there's already some degree of digital sharing.

 

It would seem logical that the immigration database would be available to the DWP, HMRC and others. Having said that, not everyone will be checked, but it's possible that in a suspected fraud investigation, certain agencies could request access?

21 hours ago, topt said:

Which has nothing to do with the benefits being talked about........

What point were you trying to make?

 

Where does it say which benefits were being discussed exclusively?

uk gov classes pensions as benefits, and this was one of the comments in the thread

”They shouldn't be receiving any benefits if living abroad”

I was in a hurry when I posted, so I just tagged it to a current comment