A major crackdown on benefit and blue badge fraudsters has been announced by Dundee City Council.
It will get tough on residents who abuse the system, costing the city hundreds of thousands of pounds.
The clampdown follows an upsurge in fraud, blamed on the dire financial straits in which many people have found themselves since the economic crisis began.
New figures show benefit over-payments cost £700,000 and there were more than 170 probes into claimants between March 2011 and September last year.
More than 100 had their benefits reduced or stopped and 15 have been found guilty of fraud in the courts.
The new counter-fraud initiative between the Department for Work and Pensions and the council will focus on high-risk areas such as housing benefit, council tax reduction, parking concessions and various grant payments.
The new scheme will be presented to councillors for their approval next week.
The council’s corporate services director, Marjory Stewart, said: “Harder times tend to lead to an increased motivation to defraud.
“These factors suggest that this is the time to put forward a new and robust approach to tackle fraud against the council and introduce new arrangements to ensure that the council is not left in a vulnerable position against the increasing threat of fraud.”