The Social Security Department offices at Edward T Wheadon House.

BENEFIT cheats tried to con islanders out of £300,000 last year, the Guernsey Press can reveal.

That is how much the Social Security Department estimated it saved in 2010 through investigations into benefit fraud.

Figures released by Social Security showed that 220 people were investigated for suspected fraud last year after tip-offs from the public and referrals from within the department.

As a result of investigations 41, or one in five, claims were closed or the amount of benefit received adjusted. Of those, 14 went to court and each defendant either admitted an offence or was found guilty. A Social Security spokesman said the number of people found to be claiming falsely or for too much was very low in the context of all the benefits paid out, at less than 2%.

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