Would you shop anyone?

Having read the thread on hetaing your home in Spain it drifted a bit about claimingteh winter fuel allownce whilst here in Spain.

There are many people here in spain working illegally (illegal taxis, key holding, house cleaning, tradesman, bar staff etc. to name a few) some ex pats still claim benefits (jobseekers, income support, child benefit etc.) from UK.

If you know anyone is working illegally and / or claiming benefits  are you obliged to make a report - would you?

Do honest tax payers suffer and subsidse these dodgers?

I know you can report anon to UK but not anon in Spain

If you know anyone is working illegally and / or claiming benefits  are you obliged to make a report ?

I believe,  just like in UK the answer is No.

However,  I did have a chat one time with Sky Satellite TV and they said they got lots of info from next door neighbours, friends etc about illegal reception in Spain and elsewhere but chose to ignore it.  So I guess there is a lot of 'shopping' going on and not just as the supermarkets !

Let he or she who is without sin casteth the first stone. 

Tadd1966 "I know you can report anon in UK but not Spain".

Yes you can. The problem is so rife the DWP set up a confidential hot line in Spain on 900 554 440.

mariedav

yes for UK benefit fraud via free phone in spain or web but i do not think you cannot report offences in Spain anon (eg theft, illegal workers, tax fraud etc)

Tadd is right. In Spain one must make a denuncia (a report) and of course to do that you must produce ID and sign the report.

Even when I assist a person who is making a report, or a person being interviewed at the police station (comisaria) my NIE is added to the report.

johnzx

if you are "assiting" someone filling in a report at a police station you effectively become a witness (or some may say a party of the complaint) which is why your NIE will be recorded

We are drifting a bit

My orginal point about reporting illegals - would you do it?

One of the reasons people may give is because they would prefer to remain anon but as we have discussed this is not possible in Spain

So should we shop/ report illegals who commit crimes or not

what is your breaking point

what if affecetd you or your family directly

do we turn a blind eye far too often

does spaine need a anon hotline - would it help or cahneg your view

As someone who still lives in the UK, but would love to be able to spend at least half the year in Spain I think if you do not report these people you are every bit as bad as them.  The government are cracking down on benefit fraud over here, but as usual, they go after the easy targets first who are generally the genuine claimants.  They are being made to jump through hoops to get their benefits back, whilst the 'scroungers' are getting away with it.  If we all reported folk we know to be scroungers ( a lot of them brag openly about it), we would then be helping genuine people which is what the Welfare State was originally designed for. I am sure it would be easy enough to go onto your laptops/pc/tablets and report them through the DWP site and request anonymity. If you got to see all these benefit programmes they are showing over here at the moment it would break your heart one moment ( people struggling to get what they were entitled to) and the buggers that sit there bragging how they have never worked and never intend to.

Tadd, when I say assisting, I am employed there.  The police officer/s involved signs the report/interview as does the solicitor, in the case where a person has been arrested,  and me,  when I am translating in both cases of arrest opr when victims are making denuncias, when they do not speak Spanish.

Tadd, when I say assisting, I am employed there.  The police officer/s involved signs the report/interview as does the solicitor, in the case where a person has been arrested,  and me,  when I am translating in both cases of arrest opr when victims are making denuncias, when they do not speak Spanish.

Employed / Volunteer..Which is it?  

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I would shop people in spain especially if I could remain anon especially illegal taxi drivers and illegal property key holders

and if I knew of anyone living in Spain claiming benefits from the UK illegally I would not hesitate to report

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Back on thread.............

I would find it very difficult to report anyone I have known about, apart from to the police for a criminal act. I do think that benefit fraud is a disgrace and should be clampt down on but the small instances I have known in Spain, I have ignored. The amounts have been trivial and people have just been trying to get by, claiming sickness benefit, doing illegal key holding and airport runs spring to mind. Maybe most of you will think that I am wrong but I just couldn't bring myself to report such things.

GB45

Good points and yes people are trying to get by but  are they commiting a criminal act?

apart from to the police for a criminal act

What is your tolerance / acceptance level of a criminal act? Petty theft, GBH, etc.

Is driving an illegal taxi a criminal act?

What is an acceptance level often depends on if one says they do it, then it’s OK and trivial but when others do it is shameful, criminal etc. 

For those who wish to know how to shop someone in spain the national police website has lost of info

http://www.policia.es/

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Could you please stay on thread. We have cleaned the thread, not because the comments were necessarily insulting or inciting, but becasue they were irrelevant to the thread. If you are going to comment please keep it on thread.

A criminal act is something I would report to the police and not DWP. Of course, driving an illegal  taxi is criminal but the only people I have known to do airport runs, they have done for friends and neighbours. They have accepted money for the journey which obviously makes it illegal but is it any worse than say accepting a lift to the station from a neighbour, although no money changes hands.You know the risks when you accept a lift anywhere from anybody.

In case you meant me Johnzx, I have never lived in Spain, never given lifts for money etc. and have never claimed anything from the DWP (apart from the OAP) so that is most emphatically not the reason I haven't reported anyone. I just can't bring myself to report what I have come across. Now, if I knew of an organised scam on a large scale I would feel different.

I don't expect people to necessarily agree with me but the question was asked.