National Fraud Initiative

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National Fraud Initiative

• Darren Shillington Project Manager

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Agenda

• Background
• Data security
• NFI 2008/09
• The future

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Background to NFI
1996 -1998
2000 - 2003
2006 - 2007
2008 - 2009
2008
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NFI financial outcomes to date reported to the
Audit Commission by participants

Cumulative to date - 491m
2008/09 (part) - 41m
2006/07- 140m
2004/05 - 111m
2002/03 - 83m
NFI biennial cycles
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Case studies - payroll

• A payroll to payroll match identified a former
  employee who had been overpaid 69,000.
• The individual, who had been employed as agency
  staff, had continued to submit, and receive
  payment for, timesheets signed on behalf of an
  ex-manager.
• On budget report agency staff costs were not
  broken down.
• The prosecution, which involved a forensic
  handwriting expert, led to a custodial sentence
  of 27 months.

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Case Studies FAS and Expired Visas

• CASE STUDY 1
• Individual used a fake South African Passport to
  gain employment. His Asylum status is under
  appeal. Police will prosecute under Fraud Act.

• CASE STUDY 2
• Individual was asked to produce a copy of his
  working permit but was unable to, he subsequently
  resigned. An attempt was made by the school to
  take him back to his house to retrieve school
  property. He jumped out of the car to prevent
  staff seeing where he lived. He returned school
  equipment to the school and asked for a memory
  stick at the school to be returned to him. The
  school refused and this has been handed over to
  the police.

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Security - 1

• Penetration testing
• Completed - no issues
• Accreditation to HMG IS1 IS2
• CLAS consultant recently been appointed
• Joint Security Review
• All audit regimes will assist
• Disaster Recovery
• Detailed plan currently being drafted

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Security - 2

• Monitoring weekly by AC NFI Team, reasons taken
  up with Key Contact/DoF, areas covered
• unsuccessful log in attempts
• out of hours working
• excessive exporting/printing of data
• high numbers of users
• system admin (full access) users
• no user activity for a month

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Security - 3

• Data Centre security
• CCTV System with out of hours monitoring
• access to room and building by swipe card only
• steel Shutters to building and NFI room
• Security clearance
• AC NFI Team
• Synectics Solutions NFI Team
• AC NFI champions in progress
• Firms NFI champions in progress

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NFI 2008/09 is progressing well

• Matches released in February
• Average of 2,700 matches per participating body
  of which on average 5 were high priority
• 42m overpayments detected to date
• 1722 housing benefit overpayments
• 520 pensions to dead persons stopped
• 45 employees dismissed / resigned
• 4073 blue badges cancelled
• 18 social housing tenancies cancelled
• Follow up at local level
• National report, Summer 2010

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NFI 2008/09

• Council Tax Participation
• 116 participants in exercise to date
• 59 have recorded outcomes totalling over 26m
• A further 210, the significant majority of those
  who had not previously participated, received
  matches mid June.
• Temporary accommodation London based pilot
  exercise to
• identify people who are not eligible for social
  housing or who already own or rent properties
  elsewhere
• identify people who have not got a valid UK Visa
  and should not be in the country
• Matches released May/June

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NFI 2008/09 Lessons

• Refer to the interactive training modules
• User permissions including datasets and
  print/export
• Some matches eg Creditors are located under the
  all matches tab
• Recommended filters these can be refined
  locally use the all matches tab
• Key new matches must be progressed eg
• Housing benefits to licences
• Police/Fire pensions to injury benefits
• Use the report level comments facility

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NFI 2008/09 Lessons KC Bulletin

• Issued April 09 - access via help menu
• Coverage included
• Management Information Reports
• Sharing comments with other matched body
• Security protocols and user permissions
• Recording and categorising outcomes
• Deceased matching a new rule
• Housing Benefits IS/JSA data and good practice
  when requesting additional information
• Licences matching to Home Office data
• Creditor case studies

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NFI 2008/09 Lessons - Management Information
Reports

• Suite of management information reports
• Reports cover user activity, outcomes and
  security
• Aid to managing the process for DoFs and KCs
• External audit check that the best use of the
  matches is being made
• Used by NFI team eg weekly security review
• DQ reports
• Poor data quality leads to poor quality matches
• New DQ stats introduced e.g. percentage of
  invoices less than 1 highlights value for
  money issues

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Management information reports
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The Birmingham Experience

• 2008/09 initial findings
• Trade creditors findings
• Birmingham do their own weekly matching
• Report 707 - 53 additional duplicates
• Report 701 72 additional duplicates
• Disappearing employee
• UK Visas match
• Asked for documentation
• Never seen again

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NFI Strategy Targeting new participants

• Government departments and agencies
• Financial services banks/building societies
• Major retailers
• Insurance companies and insurance fraud bureau
• Recruitment industry

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NFI potential new areas requiring Orders
Public Safety
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Questions