MIDDLE-class Britain is developing a “rip-off morality” in which small acts of fraud are seen as inevitable and acceptable, according to social scientists.

The country is experiencing a white-collar crimewave, created by solid citizens who do not consider themselves to be dishonest, but think nothing of padding insurance claims, dodging tax with cash-in-hand payments, cheating each other in second-hand deals and stealing from their employers.

Almost two thirds of adults in England and Wales admit to indulging in minor fraud, but rarely think their behaviour is criminal, a study at Keele University has revealed. They are also its victims: 73 per cent have been cheated themselves, most commonly by supermarkets, holiday operators, restaurants and second-hand traders.

The worst offenders, and the chief victims, are the middle classes; typically young, employed high earners, most of whom are male. The respectable dishonest now damage the economy almost five times more than do burglars. In 2000, the cost of burglary was £2.7 billion, against £13.8 billion for fraud.

A predatory dishonesty has become so deeply rooted in the psyche of middle-class Britain that many otherwise honest people are quite happy even to cheat their peers, said Stephen Farrall, who conducted the study with Susanne Karstedt.

”We are seeing people ripping each other off in second-hand goods deals,” he said. “This is more than ripping off an insurance company or not paying tax. It’s about being a predator to one’s neighbour.”

Middle-class people apply completely different standards to “fat cat” businessmen and benefits cheats than they do to their own behaviour, he said. “I don’t think that any of the people we have interviewed would consider themselves to be criminals.”

But Dr Karstedt said: “These are not victimless crimes, whatever people think. Insurance premiums and taxes go up as a result. Crime is not just burgling a house. These are crimes that are committed at the kitchen table, or in supermarkets and restaurants. They are committed by people who are respectable, not by men in balaclavas in alleyways.”

More than 1,800 people in England and Wales, and a similar sample in western Germany, were interviewed in the study, the results of which were presented at the British Association for the Advancement of Science festival in Salford yesterday.

It was found that 61 per cent of Britons and 70 per cent of Germans admitted to fraudulent behaviour, while 82 per cent of Britons and 73 per cent of Germans had been on the receiving end. In England and Wales, 34 per cent had paid cash-in-hand to evade taxes, 32 per cent had kept money when given too much change, 18 per cent had taken items from work, and 11 per cent had not bought a television licence.

Smaller but significant percentages had lied about an insurance claim, used a friend’s transport or gymmembership pass, claimed for refunds to which they were not entitled, or sold second-hand goods that they knew to be faulty.

Half the sample had been sold pre-packed food that turned out to be poor quality or rotten, and 38 per cent had paid for holiday accommodation that proved to be sub-standard. Just over a third had found items they had not ordered added to restaurant bills, or had been sold faulty second-hand goods.

Complaints about tradesmen and insurance companies were also common: 31 per cent had been charged for unnecessary repairs or work that was not carried out, or felt they had been offered derisory compensation by insurers. Others complained of bank errors or bogus credit card bills after buying over the internet.

Dr Farrall said that respectable crime was far more common than traditional crime. “The numbers who report they have become a victim is huge compared to burglary, assault and so on.”

Dr Karstedt said: “People think: what I do, perhaps my repairman will do to me. It is a vicious circle. They find all sorts of justification for their own behaviour.”

Though the study looked at people between the ages of 25 and 65, those most likely to commit fraud entered the workplace after 1990, indicating that the problem is getting worse.

Dr Farrall said he believed that the materialist culture of the 1980s was responsible. “1990 was the high-tide mark of Thatcherite values,” he said.

The white-collar crooks have...

• Paid cash in hand to avoid taxation - 34%
• Kept the money when “over-changed” - 32%
• Taken something from work - 18%
• Avoided paying TV licence - 11%
• Wrongly used identity cards for own gain - 11%
• Not disclosed faulty goods in second-hand sales - 8%
• “Padded” an insurance claim - 7%
• Asked a friend in a bureaucracy to bend the rules - 6%
• Claimed refunds they knew they weren’t entitled to - 5%
• Deliberately mis-claimed benefits - 3%

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