Government report finds Sweden’s foreign-born population responsible for 80% of benefits fraud incidents

08/19/2024 / By Laura Harris

A new report from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SIA) has revealed that foreign-born people account for around 80 percent of undue social assistance payments and are overrepresented in all other forms of benefits fraud.

According to the SIA report, which mainly covers data in 2023, errors in “assistance compensation” claims occurred more than eight times more frequently among foreign-born individuals than native Swedes. The disparity is most pronounced in child-benefit claims, where foreign-born individuals were found to be 30 times more likely to commit fraud than Swedish citizens. (Related: 60% of recipients of Sweden’s unemployment benefits are IMMIGRANTS, and slightly under half are of non-European origin.)

“Foreign-born people tend to be overrepresented in the intention group in almost all benefits presented,” stated an internal SIA document. “The overrepresentation is particularly large in assistance allowance, child benefit, and parental benefit.”

The report, made public by Swedish news service Verifiera on Aug. 9, revealed that individuals who misuse one benefit are more likely to misuse others. Instances of fraud often involved individuals claiming benefits while actively working, providing incorrect income data, failing to report changes in residence or stays abroad and falsely claiming to be residents in Sweden.

Notably, the report found that individuals with stable or strong finances committed a significant portion of benefits fraud.

“In these cases, the driving force can instead be described as greed,” the report stated. “The fact that abuse occurs in such groups could also be a sign that there are groups in society that do not have confidence in social insurance or in the state in general. It may also be that they take benefit fraud less seriously and are in a social context where it is acceptable to commit offenses against the State. Given the legitimacy of and trust in social security, it is important to monitor developments among this group in the future.”

“Approximately eight percent of individuals accounted for 80 percent of the amount that has been paid out incorrectly due to individuals having provided incorrect information or not reporting changed circumstances. This eight percent consists of individuals who have received 40,000 Swedish kronor ($3,843) or more in confirmed incorrect payments during the four-year period,” the report continued.

“The incorrect payments have primarily been made within a benefit; 63 percent of individuals have received incorrect payments for one benefit and 26 percent for two benefits. Only 10 percent have received incorrect payments in three or more benefits.”

SIA: There is a need for more effective measures to combat benefits fraud

According to the SIA, benefits fraud refers to people who deliberately or with gross negligence, provide incorrect information or do not report changed circumstances to the SIA and cause – or risk causing – incorrect payments.

In line with this, the SIA stated in their report that there is a need for more effective measures to combat benefits fraud.

The SIA noted that imposing fines on those who provided incorrect or misleading information would have limited effects. Instead, the SIA report called for system solutions beyond relying solely on honesty and conscience, like verifying relevant documentation.

However, Verifiera said the SIA report only showed a lack of knowledge about benefits fraud issues. As it turned out, the agency only started producing official data about benefits violations last year.

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