6,000 tip-offs about welfare cheats

THE number of tip-offs to the Department of Social Protection about welfare cheats has doubled in the past year.

More than 6,000 calls have been made to the department’s hotline to the end of July. This compares with 3,300 calls for the same period last year. With further tip-offs made directly in public offices, the overall figures may be even higher.

The department also confirmed it is using a range of measures to crack down on fraud, including the use of social networking sites, such as Facebook, to help verify reports made by the public against cheats.