Around £1.6 billion of taxpayers’ money goes to benefit fraudsters each year in the UK, although one should not be too surprised that people think it’s ok to cheat given the shining example set by those in power. The Government has published a list of excuses given by some fraudsters when caught, and these include:
‘I wasn’t using the ladders to clean windows. I carried them as therapy for my bad back.’
‘We don’t live together, he just comes each morning to fill up his flask.’
‘I didn’t declare my savings because I didn’t save them. They were given to me.’
‘He lives in a caravan in the drive. We’re not together.’
‘I had no idea my wife was working! I never noticed her leaving the house twice a day in a fluorescent jacket with a “Stop Children” sign.’
‘My wallet was stolen so someone must have been using my identity. I haven’t been working.’
‘I didn’t know I was still on benefit.’
‘He does come here every night and leaves in the morning and, although he has no other address, I don’t regard him as living here.’
‘It wasn’t me working. It was my identical twin.’
‘I wasn’t aware my wife was working because her hours of work coincided with the times I spent in the garden shed.’