Hard working people are having money wrongly plundered from their wages because of a multi-million pound benefits scam. Criminals used stolen identities to falsely claim thousands in advance payments from Universal Credit.
The Department for Work and Pensions then deducted the money from victims’ pay packets, even though many had never claimed benefits.
The fraudsters struck when face-to-face interviews for new Universal Credit applicants were suspended because of Covid. Advance payments go to people who can’t wait the five to six weeks it takes for Universal Credit claims to be processed and are usually recouped from wages.