A new report suggests that fraud is costing the UK at least £13.9 billion every year
This staggering figure rises to no less than £20 billion when the estimated losses from income tax fraud, under-reporting and fraudulent applications are added - which equates to a loss of £330 for every individual in the nation.
Commissioned by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the study reveals the true extent of the double-dealings that the nation's finance executives have to deal with.
'Lying becoming endemic
The results were presented to MPs and the attorney general, Lord Goldsmith, yesterday (March 7) by Mike Bowron, ACPO's economic crime chief and commissioner of police for the City of London.
"It used to be said, 'No-one walks down the street in fear of being embezzled'," he said. "Well, increasingly they do. Lying to secure financial benefit is fast becoming endemic in British life.
"Fraud threatens to blur the boundaries between what we see as right and wrong. Unabated, fraud will undoubtedly change the way future generations view the world."
In terms of tax credit fraud, the report found that £131 million was lost in the 2005/06 period due to organised fraud, and that 143,000 suspected fraudulent tax credit claims were stopped.
In the 2004/05 period, there was a revenue loss gap of £11.3 billion in the results for net theoretical tax liability, receipts and revenue loss, although it is unclear exactly how much of this was down to fraud.
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