‘Billions will be lost to to Covid cons’

TAXPAYERS face losing billions of pounds to fraudsters targeting the Government’s Covid-19 financial rescue schemes, a report has warned.

The Policy Exchange think tank said the measures rushed through to save people and businesses from economic ruin are vulnerable to scams because of the size of the packages and the speed with which they were introduced.

A paper, entitled Daylight Robbery, estimates fraud and error could cost the Government between £1.3billion and £7.9billion.

“The true value may be closer to the upper bound,” the report added.