The Task Force Social Security Fraud of the Federal Criminal Police Office handled 4,346 cases in 2021. These include undeclared unemployment, minimal security despite assets, secret trips abroad and falsified age information to get longer youth funding. The damage amounted to almost 20 million euros.
This is apparent from a response from the Ministry of the Interior to a parliamentary question from FPÖ security spokesman Hannes Amesbauer. The task force investigated 4,730 suspects in more than 4,000 cases last year. “Benefit fraud is fraud against society and should be prosecuted and punished accordingly, given the enormous sums involved,” Amesbauer said in a press release. When it comes to preserving the welfare state and the necessary steps citizens must take, one should by no means look the other way.
The most common cases of fraud in the previous year related to undeclared work in unemployment, minimum security despite assets, secret trips abroad and also the “old age lie”. The latter consists of young people who rejuvenate themselves in order to be able to receive youth funding for longer. About 70 percent of the suspects are strangers.
High number of unreported cases
Brigadier General Bernhard Gaber, head of the task force, also suspects that there are many unreported fraud figures. For example, the measures to protect against corona would make fraud easier, because many applications and proofs only have to be submitted ‘online’ instead of in person, he tells the ‘Kleine Zeitung’.
Source: Krone
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
