UK’s £54M welfare fraud case illustrates need for biometric identity verification

A team of fraudsters has been convicted for what was described as “the largest case of benefit fraud in England and Wales.” The technically unsophisticated, mass-scale fraud was carried out with impersonation and forged documents against government systems that did not apply robust document checks or biometrics with presentation attack detection.

Using a combination of legitimate and fake identity documents, the five-member gang had stolen £53.9 million (US$67.1 million) from Universal Credit, the main welfare benefit in the UK. The …

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