In today’s digital economy, fraudsters are innovating faster than ever. From the use of stolen identities and falsified medical records to sophisticated scams orchestrated by organized crime groups (OCGs), the scale and complexity of public sector fraud is evolving. Against this backdrop, government fraud departments — whether long-established like HMRC and DWP, or newly formed like the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) — must embrace a new mindset: one that combines intelligent data, advanced analytics, and continuous monitoring to outpace emerging threats.

As highlighted by the National Audit Office, most counter‑fraud and corruption activity has been focused on known large risks and the government has lacked capacity to adapt to new and unknown risks.

Government is only at an early stage of using intelligence, data‑matching and data analytics to prevent fraud and corruption but in this high-stakes environment, traditional rules-based detection methods struggle to keep up. What’s needed is a smarter whole system approach — one that can continuously assess risk, adapt to new threats, and support frontline decision-makers with the right insight at the right moment.

The changing face of government fraud risk

84% of government counter-fraud staff currently operate within HMRC or DWP — two departments managing the largest known fraud risks. But as new compensation schemes, benefits models, and high-value public services are introduced, the fraud landscape is fragmenting and becoming more nuanced.

The creation of bodies like IBCA is a prime example. Tasked with compensating victims of historical injustice, IBCA faces an acute fraud risk: bad actors impersonating victims, submitting false documentation, or manipulating eligibility criteria. These risks aren't hypothetical — they’re imminent. They require a proactive, data-led approach to prevention, not just retrospective investigation.

From silos to whole-system thinking

A common refrain in recent cross-sector discussions is the need to “break down silos.” Quantexa’s open, interoperable platform is built for exactly this — enabling a whole-system approach that unites disparate datasets, stakeholders, and decisions across departments and external partners. This makes it easier to share risk intelligence across agencies securely and connect fraud teams and share insights between with other financial crime, cyber and risk teams within the organization.

Quantexa helps to ensure:

• Interoperability: Systems and datasets must connect across organizational and jurisdictional boundaries.

• Scalability and flexibility: With data volumes and threat vectors increasing, tools must scale quickly and adapt fast.

• Timely, intelligent data sharing: The right data, at the right place, at the right time.

What success looks like

Ultimately, the measure of success for any public sector counter-fraud function — whether HMRC, DWP, or IBCA — is public trust. That means protecting the public purse while ensuring that legitimate claimants and vulnerable citizens get the help they need, when and where they need it. It means using data and technology to prevent error, reduce loss, and hold bad actors accountable — without putting unnecessary friction in the way of those most in need.

Government cannot afford to play catch-up. Fraudsters already use AI, automation, and stolen data to scale their attacks at low cost. It’s time government teams had access to the same — or better — tools to protect taxpayer money and build a future-ready counter-fraud capability.

By embedding technology like Quantexa’s, public sector organizations can:

• Move from reactive investigation to proactive prevention

• Detect and disrupt organized fraud rings faster

• Empower their teams with AI-powered tools that reduce workload and boost accuracy

• Build agile, adaptive defences that evolve with the threat landscape

Systems must also include safeguards for insider threats, with continuous monitoring throughout the employee lifecycle from vetting and onboarding all the way through to exit.

Quantexa capabilities that enable public sector fraud excellence

Entity resolution: Unifying data across silos

One of the most persistent challenges in government counter-fraud efforts is fragmented data - internal, public and cross-government datasets. Multiple departments and systems store different versions of the same individual, organization, or claim, making it difficult to form a single view of risk.

Sourcing data has historically made tackling this problem a challenge, but with the Digital Economy Act (DEA) enabling data sharing across departments for fraud and error prevention this barrier is gradually being removed. The challenge then becomes unifying and making use of this data in an automated way to generate insights that empower humans to use their expertise for judgement.

Quantexa’s entity resolution capability solves this by connecting and deduplicating data across sources to build a trusted, unified view of individuals, organizations, and relationships. For departments like IBCA, this means being able to verify a claimant’s identity quickly and accurately — even across legacy systems — while spotting signs of impersonation or duplication.

Graph analytics: Detecting hidden patterns and organized crime

Quantexa’s network analytics allows public sector teams to identify suspicious relationships between people, entities, and events — even when fraudsters try to mask their activity. By visualizing social, familial, transactional, and geographic links, fraud teams can uncover complex fraud rings and multi-claimant abuse, driving faster interventions and stronger prosecutions.

Q Assist: Augmented decision intelligence for fraud teams

Time is critical in fraud prevention — but caseworkers often face overwhelming volumes of data and complexity. Q Assist, Quantexa’s generative AI and decision intelligence assistant, supports investigators by summarising relevant information, surfacing risk factors, and even suggesting next best actions based on case context.

Rather than replacing humans, Q Assist enhances their expertise — freeing up skilled professionals to focus on high-value judgment calls while AI handles repetitive analysis. This is especially powerful in time-sensitive environments like benefit processing or compensation schemes, where delays hurt both the public and departmental trust.

A smarter government, enabled by smarter systems

Fraudsters aren’t waiting — and neither should we. As AI, quantum computing, and synthetic identity threats advance, public sector fraud teams must be equipped with tools that are not just equal to the task, but put them at an advantage to stem the tide.

At Quantexa, we’re proud to support this mission — partnering with forward-thinking government bodies to modernize counter-fraud strategy, architecture, and operations for a digital-first world. Get in touch to find out more.