Grrr at my friend!!

I hope this in the right thread, its a bit of a vent so i apologize in advance :lol:

Im so cranky!! :angry: I just went and had coffee with a friend of mine who has a 5mth old DS. I went to school with her and since both becoming mums at a young age we have become quite close.
anyway she is still with her DP (father of the baby) and we got talking about finances and how hard it is etc.. anyway she blurts out and tells me the only reason they are living in LUXURY! i mean LUXURY, is because they have told centrelink they have split up :jawdrop: so she is recieving a single parent payment AND rent assistant and whatever else, when her partner is out working a nicely paid job monday-friday. :o

I just sat there trying not to cry, i guess i was kind of jelous that here i am struggling, working 6 days a week with a 7mth old, recieving only what i am entitled to which is not much. and here she is boasting about shopping trips, coffee dates and taking there DS on holidays here there and everywhere.

Sorry for ranting its just really hurt/ upset/ angered me!!!! :shakehead:

:hug: thats so horrible. If it were me i'd be dobbing her in.. but thats jsut me.

Aww hun :hug: your trying your hardest it's sooo not nice of her to rub it in.

Personally i would dob her in.. it's YOUR hard earned taxes paying for her to go on all these trips etc.

i would dob her in but thats just me plus its anonymous
:hug:

how would i go about "dobbing" someone in. I know its not really a friend thing to do but its really P!ssed me off.

Mustn't be going on very exotic holidays on what you get from centrelink though :lol:

I'd be a dobber though. If people can't play by the rules.... *shrugs*

[QUOTE=Arimeh;2280172]Mustn't be going on very exotic holidays on what you get from centrelink though :lol: [QUOTE]

haha. still more exotic holidays then im going on! :lol:

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how would i go about "dobbing" someone in. I know its not really a friend thing to do but its really P!ssed me off.

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There'd be some phoen number if you jump on the centrelink website.

If you find out how to go about dobbing one in annonymously please pass the info on to me hun...

Its really not fair to those who play by the rules!

Yep id be a dobber too!

will do babe :) im going to look it up on my lunch break... mmmmmm foood!!

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will do babe :) im going to look it up on my lunch break... mmmmmm foood!!

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Im just poking around the site now! Your thread reminded me to look into it!

Food...*drools*

I know how upset you must be, it's so hard when you're constantly struggling and then to find out someone you like is ripping the system off!! :hug:

But I think what's also important here is that this is a friend whose friendship you value, and you don't really want to jeapordise that either.

You need to think carefully before you dob her in. Is this what you really want to do? It might be worth talking to her instead and telling her honestly how upset you are to find out what she's doing. Also warn her that if someone were to dob her in (because if she's told you she may well have told other people too) that not only will they have to pay the money back, she can also be prosecuted (ie criminal charges for fraud). Ask her if she really wants to risk that and also tell her how hurtful it is for you who are doing the right thing to have her luxurious lifestyle rubbed in your face like that. If you do this with the intention of being honest and straight within the friendship, you may get a better result than if you tap into your anger and just go off at her, or dob her in.

There are links here on:
Centrelink Fraud

and also
How to report Centrelink fraud

i hate that, we honest ppl are out there making a living with our kids and getting what we can from centrelink and then there is ppl who dont look for work cheat and just be blugers about it

dob her in , my god when they get found out either from u telling on them or later down the track - which they will ppl always do ,they will get in so much trouble and have to pay back money

I went to the C'link site & clicked on

'Contact Us' then

'Message' then

'Report a Suspected Fraud'

Going through the steps now...

**SNAP** Marydean...

Really you are doing her a favour Reporting it. She won't see it that way but the sooner they find out the smaller her clink debt will be. We have a 3k overpayment and that was with notifying them as early as possible.
Someone else will do it if u don't and the longer it goes on the bigger the hole she will be in

I would dob her in without feeling guilty!!!

Just think of all of us working, paying our taxes and saving to be able to stay at home when the time comes.

I HATE people like this!!! It's fraud. I hope she gets caught out!!! The fact that she is telling you about it shows that she isn't even remorseful!!!!

Oh thats just not fair to everybody else that's doing the right thing. GRRR to her. I'd dob her in but try not to mention the situation around her otherwise she'd suspect it was you who dobbed her in.

We also have an overpayment to repay because DH got a new job and his previous employer used some of his lump sum to clear a loan and didn't really tell us until it was too late. it's a real bugger having to pay this off... we never actually HAD the money. Anyhow... yes, you could be doing her a favour... BUT Marydean also had some good advice. If you put the whole money things aside (which always makes people emotional) consider what effect this will have on your friendship... you may not be able to look her in the eye afterwards :dunno: just saying that it could change things more than you expect. In an ideal world you should be able to warn her that if she got caught she could be up for fraud which would in turn motivate her to fess up... but this isn't an ideal world... maybe give her a chance to come clean of her own accord first before dobbing. I think i would... but i live by the idea of doing unto others... she might not know about the fraud charges. Benefit of the doubt time.

I think it's best to tell her that she should let CL know herself because if they find out she will have to pay it back anyway and could end up prosecuted. The longer she is living in luxury, the bigger hole she is digging for herself in the long run.

She could always ring them and say that her and her DP have reconciled ;) Give her the chance to do it herself before dobbing them in I reccon...

I agree with Raven... give her the chance to contact them first... it's what most of us would want i think ;) If she ignores this chance then take it further.

Good luck with your decision, ideally she herself should come forward and advise they are partnered. But you need to do what is right for you, she chose to make it known they she is illegally receiving payments which has put you in an awkward position.

She needs to be aware that if she is found out then she will be prosecuted, and even though she was with her partner, as she is the one receiving the payments she will be the one that has to pay back all of the debt, and it can quite quickly add up to many many thousands of dollars.

:hug: How frustrating. Have a chat to her and say that it concerns you, that if C'link ever find out that they're living together, that they will have to backpay the money and that will make things really really difficult for them. And there's a good chance C'link will find out, all that info seems to be sort of collective, medicare, c'link, tax...As Raven says, you can suggest she tells them they've reconciled.

I know it's awful that she is cheating the system. But I imagine that having to pay back a huge debt would take a significant toll on more than their finances, on their marriage, parenting, lifestyle - it could be really full on. She definitely needs to fix this! But as Bath points out, if it were me being dodgy, I know I'd like to be given the nudge to make things right, rather than being reported.

If she's not made any changes after a certain amount of time, well I guess she can't say she didn't know the consequences. It's possible she has no idea how serious the issue is though. Especially if she's sharing the info so freely!!

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Really you are doing her a favour Reporting it. She won't see it that way but the sooner they find out the smaller her clink debt will be. We have a 3k overpayment and that was with notifying them as early as possible.
Someone else will do it if u don't and the longer it goes on the bigger the hole she will be in

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what Pandora said - she will get caught eventually - through address matching, medicare, ATO, immigration...and if it takes Centrelink a few years to catch up with her, she will find herself with a big debt and possibly a prosecution. Reporting the information to Centrelink is anonymous, and the investigation is done in a way in which she may not even be aware that she has been reported, rather that she has been picked up in a random review process.

I have a so-called friend do the same thing years ago ... her DP was earning a taxable full-time income and she was working a full-time job cash-in-hand ... she went to C/L with a friend as a witness to say she and her partner (Father of her two kids) had split up ... she told C/L he had moved out but the whole time he was living there and no authorities came to check.

They went from living in a commission flat in Ascot Vale, Vic to buying land in Port Douglas (YES you read right) and she befriended the local bank manager who helped them to get a house loan so they could build a house on it which they did and then moved there.

Made me sick being on my own paying my taxes doing the ' right ' thing when others not only ripped off the system with my hard earn taxes helping to go to people like this them but they also got away with it.

DOB HER IN !!!!!!!!

.... YOU have nothing to feel guilty about, i would look at this way you are doing her a huge favour getting caught earlier than later when they end up ' owing ' more money then what they do now for money that was never theirs in the first place ... to think that money could have been helping someone in huge need of it rather then them clearly NOT struggling ... Oh grrrr makes my blood boil :shakehead:

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Mustn't be going on very exotic holidays on what you get from centrelink though :lol:

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One of my ex mates got something like $1200 a fortnight for saying that her and her partner split up. If they were together he got something like $300 a fortnight taken out of his dole payment.

****es me off when people do this. Mothers have to go back to work to make ends meet and this woman sponges all thier taxes! It's vulgar and seriously dob her in. It's really not fair when mothers feel guilty for going back to work when there are people leeching off the government like this!

Sorry, had a bit of a rant but it's vulgar behaviour when people that really need govt support get knocked back so often.

:hug: what an awful situation to be in.

But i do think either one of you needs to be honest. What she is doing is so unfair, its so unfair that its not even half funny. There are so many families struggling to live and here she is living like a queen because she is ripping off the government.

You could start off by saying that you know of someone who has recently been caught and they are now in a lot of trouble. See if that makes her be honest.

But if it doesnt you do need to report her. She will never know it was you.

BIG :hug:

WOW I am suprised how many people suggest going straight to Clink to dob in your FRIEND?? What she is doing is wrong, wrong, wrong but she is your friend (isn't she?). I would talk to my friend about how much trouble she could get into and how unfair it is on those of us who do the right thing. It will catch up with her at some point 100%, but if I was her friend I wouldn't want to be the one to dob her in.

Hopefully if you talk to her she will stop and think about what she is doing. i don't know how she sleeps at night, i'd be a nervous wreck waiting for that phone call or letter (and it will come regardless of if you get involved or not).

Good luck getting to a decision that's right for you!!

To those that would never dob in a friend who broke the law ...
If they commit murder, you wouldn't dob, you'd wait for them to hand themselves in?
If they rob a bank, you wouldn't dob either?
Same thing here, the law is law. This is Fraud. This is against the law. End of story.
What is fraud?

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Centrelink fraud is committed when a person knowingly gives false and misleading information to get a payment/s they should not be getting or do not tell Centrelink information they are obliged to tell us.
Fraud can be committed in a number of ways such as providing Centrelink with incorrect information either on forms completed, false statements, false identification or overall deliberately telling Centrelink the wrong information.

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So if this friend is knowingly giving Centrelink false information to live in a life of luxury, then that is fraud. That is breaking the law.
I would never just sit back and wait for someone to hand themselves in if they broke the law. If I knew about it, then I have a right to take appropriate action.

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WOW I am suprised how many people suggest going straight to Clink to dob in your FRIEND?? What she is doing is wrong, wrong, wrong but she is your friend (isn't she?). I would talk to my friend about how much trouble she could get into and how unfair it is on those of us who do the right thing. It will catch up with her at some point 100%, but if I was her friend I wouldn't want to be the one to dob her in.

Hopefully if you talk to her she will stop and think about what she is doing. i don't know how she sleeps at night, i'd be a nervous wreck waiting for that phone call or letter (and it will come regardless of if you get involved or not).

Good luck getting to a decision that's right for you!!

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It is theft. She may not be holding a gun in a bank, but it amounts to the same thing. Personally, I cann't imagine any of my close friend doing this. If I found out a close friend did rip off the system this way, I would likely confront them and tell them they need to 'fix' it or I will. If it weren't a close friend, I would likely just dob them in - without confronting them.

But the truth is, if you were a friend of mine you would likely know how I feel about this in the first place, so likely wouldn't expect much different.

So you have all been warned ;)

I have worked hard all my life and paid my taxes - taxes which are used to pay for such situations as mentioned. I have no problem at all with people who truly need these benefits claiming them - that is what we pay our taxes for. We look after each other (or at least we should) as we all have times when we need this extra help.

I'm afraid, however, that I have a real problem with people fraudulently obtaining benefits. But it is such a difficult situation to be in when the person committing the fraud is a friend. If they are a friend, then you should be able to sit down and let them know that what they are doing is illegal and not something that you agree with. I know for me if I did this and my friend still continued to commit the fraud, then I am afraid that they would no longer be someone that I would want to call friend. I would then have no problem at all in reporting them.

Good luck - I hope you find a solution that you feel happy with.

Janie xxx

I agree that she has broken the law, but I also think there is a lot at stake here. I don't agree with what she is doing at all but I think that your friend deserves a chance to do the right thing. And to be honest, two of my brothers do drugs and I hate it, but I don't ring the police about it even though the law is the law. Some things are not helpful to the situation.

Your friends have a 5 month old baby and I don't think being caught up in fraud charges and having to go to court is helpful either. I think giving her a chance to be honest and sort it out for herself is the best option, but that is just my opinion :). You could lose her as a friend by dobbing her in. I think it is awful what she is doing and I completely understand how you feel, but if you and her are offering each other some support raising your babies, you may miss that support more than you realise.

I don't think it will make any real difference whether you dob her in now or wait a couple of days. I think, like any decision, wait until you are feeling calm about the situation and decide what you think would be best then. Decisions made emotionally are sometimes ones that we come to regret down the line when we are feeling calm again (or at least that it the way it works for me). Also I would wait until I was calm to make sure that I was happy about my motives for dobbing her in. You have to have peace with the decision to dob her in because there could be a whole lot of consequences from your actions and I think you have to be prepared for that.

I have been very honest in my post and I hope that I haven't offended you by what I have said. I am not in any way trying to make you feel bad about dobbing her in, I just really want to encourage you to think about what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you might feel about the outcomes. I think you have to do what you believe is right, but in a way that you have peace with yourself about it.

Good luck, it is not an easy situation to be in :hug:

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and we got talking about finances and how hard it is etc.. anyway she blurts out and tells me the only reason they are living in LUXURY! i mean LUXURY, is because they have told centrelink they have split up so she is recieving a single parent payment AND rent assistant and whatever else, when her partner is out working a nicely paid job monday-friday. :o

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That peeves me no end. SPP is $600 odd and you can earn a minor fortune on it before they cut you down at 20c in the dollar or something.

I haven't been on Centerlink long, but they deem my income so I get $320pf from them (often it is less), and I have 3 dependants. If I was single I'd get the full $600, plus extra FTB, and a vastly more generous income threshold. I can see why people rort the system. They could at least raise the income threshold a bit from $61pf, and perhaps assess it on the amount you earn *in the hand* instead of pre-tax, pre-deductions, pre everything, and take it back at 20c in the dollar like PPS rather than 50c. And lets not get started on cutting your FTB down when your partner earns more than $4000. Who earns LESS than $4000 these days?

If it was me I'd dob her in.

i would and have dobbed in a friend!! Yep thats right i did dob in a friend and i dont regret it one bit!!! What she is doing is so wrong,and the thing that ticks me off is the ones who do the right thing are worse off,particularly for the reason thats others rip the system off. Other peoples tax's are paying for her to get extra money she isnt entitled to when there are prob people out there who damn well need and deserve it. I say tell her to call them and tell them or you will. Or if you dont want her to know just call them.

I have had a friend try and use me as a ref to say she was single i told the woman on the phone that NO i will not be a ref as by saying yes she is single i myself can get in striff so no i wont be a ref. My friend knew and we are still friends being an adult she understood why i wouldnt take the risk

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They could at least raise the income threshold a bit from $61pf, and perhaps assess it on the amount you earn *in the hand* instead of pre-tax, pre-deductions, pre everything, and take it back at 20c in the dollar like PPS rather than 50c. And lets not get started on cutting your FTB down when your partner earns more than $4000. Who earns LESS than $4000 these days?

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For PPS customers, income earned over $166.60 p/fortnight (plus $24.50 for each extra child) will reduce their entitlement by 40c per dollar. For PPP customers with a partner on a pension, combined income over $124 and less than $500 will reduce entitlement by 25c per dollar, and income earned in excess of $500 p/f gross will reduce entitlement by 30c per dollar. PPP customers with a partner NOT on a pension, entitlement reduces by 50c per dollar for income in excess of $62-$250 and 60c for each dollar earned over $250 p/f.

People who don't work earn less than $4000 p.a, as do people who work very minimally at award wage, or people who receive a tax free pension (such as DSP or Carers Payment).

I'm in the '50c per dollar over $62' category (newstart) and he's over $4000 because he's on an allowance (PPP) not pension. So I lose both ways :( Three ways if you consider they take a lot more of my income into account than I actually earn because the centerlink and ATO income rules differ so much from each other. If we 'broke up' in our current situation, the income difference is something like $20,000 a year - I actually worked it out in between submitting 300 pages of forms to centerlink the other week. But it would be fraud, and our current situation is only temporary anyway.

I know a LOT of people where she's on SPP and he's on DPP or working - living separate of course - and they rake it in. Friend of mine is a teacher, her husband is a teacher and her sister (single with 7 kids) gets more in welfare than both of them do combined from working - and the sister is always broke! Friend rants about it to me quite often - she's infertile and loves kids and her sister neglects hers, so insult to injury. But she has no partner on the side (most of the kid's fathers are in jail or married to other women) so it differs a bit from the absent partner cases, since she's not actually fiddling the system.

i have dobbed in extended family (BEFORE i started working for c'link), so i'd sure as hell dob in a friend. doesn't matter your relationship to them, if they are KNOWINGLY doing the wrong thing, they are breaking the law. if i knew of someone committing any other crime, i would hand them over - i wouldn't harbour a murderer, armed robber or pedophile. why would i allow someone to commit fraud and get away with it. there may not be the violence involved, but there is still a CRIME behind what they are doing. Every time we turn the other cheek, every time we let people get away with something like this, we are not only allowing the fraud to happen, we are condoning/supporting them in breaking the law

i look at it two ways - one, why should they be living the high life on money they're not entitled to. i'm currently living on the poverty line due to a severe change in our financial circumstances. i could easily say DH and I have split. wouldn't take much at all. but to do it, i'd have to have people help me to lie, so i'm drawing other people into a CRIMINAL activity. not on.

the other way - if this person is my friend, i don't WANT to see them prosecuted for something stupid. which, really, it's STUPID GREED that makes people do this. i have personally dealt with customers who have done exactly this. they have been caught, they have been charged, they have done prison time for their fraudulent behaviour - and you know what - when they've paid their dues legally, they STILL have to pay back EVERY SINGLE CENT they have fraudulently claimed. being convicted of the crime is on your record for life. it follows you everywhere.

yes, this person is your friend. yes, you may feel like crap dobbing them in, but ultimately, you're doing the right thing by everyone by dobbing her in. getting a debt of five months worth of payments (at worst several thousand dollars) is a hell of a lot better than her being prosecuted and having that noose around her neck for good. she may be hurt, and you may feel uncomfortable doing it, but it NEEDS to be done. you will continue to be angry and resent her if you don't anyway. if oyu put the tip off through, you know you've done what you can - if she continues to lie, it is on her. sorry ladies, i don't agree with suggesting she correct things now - it needs to be done from the beginning - there should never have been a claim and saying they've reconciled NOW won't correct the wrong they have done in the past. the penalties need to be handed down (debts etc) or they will never be accountable for their actions.

ok, off my soapbox now

I dealt with a mum yesterday who was in tears because that morning she had received a phone call from fraud investigation, had her PPS cancelled and a debt of $52,000 raised - I treated her with dignity and was kind, helpful and non-judgemental, but she couldn't look me in the eye she was so embarassed - she is potentially facing prosecution. She told me she had been meaning to do the right thing all along (4 years) but couldn't bring herself to do it because she knew how much she was going to owe - in the end someone else provided the information in the form of a tip off. If you know someone is doing something wrong, report them NOW so it doesn't get worse for them. You'll potentially stop them from having a criminal record.

Wow, people are so harsh.
Your friend probably hasn't thought about this enough to realise how wrong and unfair it is. She probably just had the idea spontaneously, when filling in the forms. I'm sure that once you explain to her the effect of her behaviour, and where that money is actually coming from, she will realise. And remind her that she will get caught easily.
As soon as she applies for a loan, with her partner or without, Centrelink will start checking up. And I am sure one day she will want to get a loan.

Gawd, but when does the spontaneity end? Each time she withdraws the money? Or goes on a holiday?

I know for alot of them, they get used to that level of "income" and don't want to let it go.

You could tell when the tip off team had done a big round of investigations because we would have a sudden rush of people into the office claiming they were now, in fact partnered after all....