Council using lie detector tests to root out benefits cheats catches 4,000 fraudsters in just four months

Daily Mail:

  • Software analyses calls from claimants for signs of stress in their voices
  • The technology is similar to that used by insurance companies
  • Southwark Council in London say they have saved £1,400,000

By Tony Bassett

PUBLISHED: 09:56 EST, 29 November 2012 | UPDATED: 10:52 EST, 29 November 2012

Town hall chiefs have brought in lie detector tests in a bid to beat benefit cheats who trick them out of thousands of pounds every year.

The move has already helped anti-fraud officials catch nearly 4,000 fraudsters claiming council tax discounts and saved more than £1,400,000 in four months.

The new high-tech system – which analyses telephone calls from claimants for signs of stress in their voices – is being run by Southwark Council in south London.

Councils are using voice stress analysis software to catch benefits cheats - a move which is credited as catching some 4,000 fraudsters and saving more than £1,400,000 in four monthsLie detector: Southwark council is using voice stress analysis software to catch benefits cheats – a move which is credited as catching some 4,000 fraudsters and saving more than £1,400,000 in four months

Council chiefs have defended its use, saying the town hall is the 13th worst hit by Government cuts and therefore has to take a tough line on fraud.

Click to continue:

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

4 Replies to “Council using lie detector tests to root out benefits cheats catches 4,000 fraudsters in just four months”

  1. They are missing the groups that abuse it the most by eliminating those who don’t have English as their primary language. They’re also providing loopholes for muslims who can claim that English is not their first language, even if it is. If it can work for English it can work for other languages too.

  2. I’ve known this technology was possible for decades, but I have dreaded the day when they start using it. What’s to stop the police one day from just phoning you up and asking if you’ve committed any crimes lately, then sending over a squad car when your results come back as lying? We are headed for a nightmare very similar to what George Orwell envisioned in his book, “1984”. They can use your “smart meter” to tell if you’re home, then phone you to see if you’ve smoked a joint, not paid your taxes, been drinking, voted Conservative, don’t like Barrack Obama. Hell, they can pretty well do anything they want to you with a machine like that hooked up to the phone. It’s a nightmare…