Right to Buy Changes Risk Increase in Fraud

Fraudsters are targeting the government’s revitalised right to buy programme, a report from the Audit Commission has revealed.  The number of right to buy fraud cases has risen by 52 per cent in the last three years and the commission warns that the newly extended discounts pose an increased risk of fraud.  The report Protecting the public purse 2012 said that right to buy fraud is a ‘new emerging fraud’ and that although the level is currently relatively low – in 2011/12 there were 38 cases with a value of £1.2 million – the increased discount would make the scheme ‘more attractive to fraudsters’.  Download a copy of the report from the Audit Commission website.