Benefit fraud statistics: FOI release

Information requested

Your request for information 1: How many cases of benefit fraud have been reported to Social Security Scotland in the past five financial years? (Broken down by 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25).

Your request for information 2: Of these cases, how much money did victims lose in total? (Broken down by same years as above).

Your request for information 3: What were the ten largest sums recorded as having been lost by a victim due to benefit fraud.

Your request for information 4: Could you please provide a breakdown of the results by area/location? (Broken down by 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25).

Your request for information 5: Could you please provide a breakdown of the age of victims by age group.

Your request for information 6: Could you provide a breakdown of the gender of the victims.

Response

Request for information 1:

We have interpreted your request to mean allegations of fraud. Allegations do not automatically become fraud investigation cases as research and assessment is carried out prior to tasking to an investigator. Social Security Scotland does not decide when fraud has been committed. Therefore, we do not classify a behaviour as fraud until conviction, or the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service has decided on a non-court disposal as an alternative to prosecution.

Most of the information you have requested is available from our annual accounts, which are available on our website Social Security Scotland.

Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

For your ease of reading I have included the information below:

April 2020- March 2021 – 1375 – Allegations of fraud received.
April 2022 – March 2023 - 2412 - Allegations of fraud received.
April 2023 – March 2024 - 5206 - Allegations of fraud received.
April 2024 – March 2025 – 6404 - Allegations of fraud received.

For financial year 2021/22, we don’t hold the information by financial year. However, we do hold this for annual year, which I have included below:

2021 – 848 allegations of fraud received
2022 – 2062 allegations of fraud received

Request for information 2-6:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

Social Security Scotland does not recognise an instance of fraud until there’s been a conviction secured through the criminal justice system. To date there has not been any convictions relating to alleged misuse of a victim’s identity to commit benefit fraud. Therefore, it is not possible to provide information on victims of identity fraud.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.