UK Gov Says They Are Using AI to Combat Fraud

The latest release from HM Gov, which claims that some £480m has been saved by deploying AI.

Fraudsters have been stopped from stealing a record £480 million from the taxpayer in the government’s biggest ever fraud crackdown, meaning more money can be used to recruit nurses, teachers and police officers as part of the Plan for Change. (Equally the cash could be spent on housing more migrants in hotels and HMOs, taxi fares or Quangos – Ed)

Over a third of the money saved (£186 million) comes from identifying and recovering fraud committed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Government efforts to date have blocked hundreds of thousands of companies with outstanding or potentially fraudulent Bounce Back Loans from dissolving before they would have to pay anything back. We have also clawed back millions of pounds from companies that took out Covid loans they were not entitled to, or took out multiple loans when only entitled to one.

This builds on successful convictions in recent months to crack down on opportunists who exploited the Bounce Back Loan Scheme for their own gain, including a woman who invented a company and then sent the loan money to Poland.

(Bounceback loans were dished out in 2020/21, why has it taken so long? – Ed)

Alongside Covid fraud, the record savings reached in the year to April 2025 include clamping down on people unlawfully claiming single persons council tax discount and removing people from social housing waitlists who wanted to illegally sublet their discounted homes at the taxpayers’ expense. ( Hmmm, how many cases prosecuted per year, 20, 50 – any data? – Ed)

Announcing the record figures at an anti-fraud Five Eyes summit in London, Cabinet Office Minister Josh Simons said:

Working people expect their taxes to go towards schools, hospitals, roads and the services they and their families use. That money going into the hands of fraudsters is a betrayal of their hard work and the system of paying your fair share. It has to stop.

That’s why this government has delivered the toughest ever crackdown on fraud, protecting almost half a billion pounds in under 12 months.

We’re using cutting-edge AI and data tools to stay one step ahead of fraudsters, making sure public funds are protected and used to deliver public services for those who need them most – not line the pockets of scammers and swindlers.

The savings have been driven by comparing different information the government holds to stop people falsely claiming benefits and discounts that they’re clearly not eligible for.

The high-tech push brought around £110m back to the exchequer more than the year before, and comes as the government pushes to save £45 billion by using tech to make the public sector more productive, saving money for the NHS and police forces to deliver the Plan for Change.

The Minister will also unveil a new AI fraud prevention tool that has been built by the government and will be used across all departments after successful tests.

The AI system scans new policies and procedures for weaknesses before they can be exploited, helping make new policies fraud-proof when they are drafting them. The tool could be essential in stopping fraudsters from taking advantage of government efforts to help people in need amid future emergencies.

It has been designed to prevent the scale of criminality seen through the Covid pandemic, where millions were lost to people falsely taking advantage of furlough, Covid Grants and Bounce Back Loans. ( Surely all that had to be done was cross reference each Bounceback loan application against Companies House data, plus overlay Council Tax/Electoral Roll/DVLA/Passport Office data locally to find people masquerading as Directors of legit companies, many of whom didn’t even live in this country? It isn’t rocket science that takes four years – Ed)

Results from early tests show it could save thousands of hours and help prevent millions in potential losses, slashing the time to identify fraud risks by 80% while preserving human oversight.

The UK will also licence the technology internationally, with Five Eyes partners at the summit considering adoption as part of strengthening global efforts to stop fraud and demonstrating Britain’s role at the forefront of innovation.