Through its Fraud Investigations teams, Work and Income investigates information or accusations that beneficiaries may have received income support that they’re not entitled to.
The two most common areas that are investigated are undeclared income and relationship status.
An investigation might begin after information-sharing between Work and Income and the Inland Revenue Department has shown that a beneficiary hasn’t declared income to Work and Income (see below, “Information sharing and matching between Work and Income and other government agencies”). Work and Income may also randomly select cases for investigation, or it may simply have a suspicion that a beneficiary is not in fact entitled to what they are receiving.