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Former fraudster Alex Wood has been advising law firms, insurers and local councils on strategies to tackle fraud following his release from jail in 2022. Speaking at Oxford City Council’s ninth annual Fraud Conference, Wood suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) is the next big threat in the fight against fraud. He explained, “AI enables fraudsters to become so much more sophisticated and discharge their fraud in an easier way…we need to then come up with AI strategies that counter that”.
The conference is a crucial date in the calendar for those who work to protect taxpayers’ money from fraudsters, offering the opportunity for professionals to swap tips and discuss the next big threat. Oxford Investigation Service is run by Oxford City Council, which claims the unit saved £7.4m ($10.29m) in the past financial year through fraud prevention and detection. This is achieved through the detection of fraudulent housing and Right to Buy applications, both online and via face-to-face visits if wrongdoing is suspected.
The risk of tenancy fraud is on the rise in Oxford as individuals use short-term let sites like Airbnb to sublet council homes. According to Scott Warner, counter-fraud manager at Oxford City Council, “Oxford has got the highest private sector market rents outside of London, so it’s lucrative if you are a fraudster looking to sublet a council home. And that risk has increased with the recent evolution of short-term lets, including things like Airbnb”. He added that his team is continually on the lookout for new fraudulent schemes as they evolve.
Beyond the financial damage, city council deputy leader Ed Turner has described the impact fraud has on residents as significant. “If we’ve got 58 people getting social housing which they’re not entitled to, those are 58 people that don’t have the social housing that they need”, he said. “And that is a huge impact on the individuals and families involved, particularly in an area with a housing crisis
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