Hundreds of benefit fraudsters have been caught out by lie-detector technology.

More than 370 people were identified fiddling their benefits in Lambeth, South London. As part of the pilot project, Lambeth Council staff phoned 2,000 residents and used Voice Risk Analysis, which picks up tiny changes in the voice that show a person is lying.

Benefits staff then made further checks to see if claims needed investigation. A total of 638 people were investigated and 377 were caught lying and had their benefits stopped or decreased. A further 261 discovered they were not getting their full entitlement and in fact had their benefits boosted.

The project, run in partnership with the Department of Work and Pensions and professional services company Capita, has proved so successful that there are now plans to extend it.

David Ashmore, divisional director for revenues and benefits, said: “Lambeth has a clear and tough policy of zero-tolerance of fraud. This cutting edge technology is another weapon in our armoury.”

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