Over 200,000 people in the UK were wrongly investigated for possible housing benefit fraud due to a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) algorithm.

According to a Big Brother Watch investigation, two-thirds of claims flagged as potentially high risk over the last three years turned out to be legitimate, with GBP 4.4 million spent on officials carrying out checks that did not save any money. 

The algorithm, which does not use artificial intelligence or machine learning, was deployed after a pilot study revealed that 64 percent of cases flagged as high risk were receiving incorrect benefit entitlements. 

However, subsequent case reviews showed far less fraud and error, with only 37 percent of suspicious cases being wrong. The discrepancy highlights the algorithm’s limitations and the need for more effective solutions in benefit fraud detection.

The finding raised questions about the algorithm's accuracy and reliability, and its potential financial, privacy and other impacts on vulnerable individuals.