HMRC extends use of anti-fraud technology

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is preparing to expand the use of a new technology deployed at a document centre in the north-west to reduce losses from fraud and error in processing tax credit applications. The Fraud Screen system has been developed by Fujitsu, one of the partners in the Capgemini-led Aspire contract for IT services. Andy Fuller, assistant director Fujitsu UK, said that a six month pilot provided of savings of £10m and that £26m has now been saved in addition to the processes going through manual sifting. The company has tailored technology used by the financial services industry to reduce the volume of fraud and error in the process. It checks scanned documents containing data that people provide about themselves and looks for discrepancies or patterns that indicate a degree of risk in going ahead. It automatically assigns a risk score that highlights applications for examination by intervention teams. "It's really important to stress that the computer does not make the final decision, which goes to an intervention team," Fuller says. "At no point does the system provide an out and out block, but it increases the chances that a good or valid claim will be processed rapidly." He said the appetite to reduce fraud and errors increased with the change of government and emphasis on reducing the public sector deficit, and that the company had already been developing ideas on how data analytics could be used to achieve this. In summer of last year it ran a two week pilot and found it was possible to highlight 25% more fraud and error than with normal processes. It agreed with HMRC to run a longer pilot from the end of September to the end of March, in which time it recovered £10m in savings. As a result, it is now being used for a larger proportion of new tax credit applications, and Fuller said it has already provided further savings of £15m. The department and Fujitsu are also working on the use of Fraud Screen in the renewal of tax credits and investigating its potential in other areas. "Once the system goes live in a few weeks we can be confident of looking at just the 'risk' applications, and can go with it in a different, more vigilant mindset," Fuller said. "You can contrast this with the situation of five years ago when they would go at it as quickly as possible even it didn't look right. It has changed the culture and atmosphere among the teams." He added that Fujitsu has had talks with other organisations, including the Department for Work and Pensions, about what it can do with the technology. He said there are a range of processes for which it could be used, citing the example of grant applications. This article is published by Guardian Professional. For weekly updates of news, debate and best practice on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here .