Welfare fraudster's hefty jail sentence is going to put the wind up a couple of people...

There'll be a few guys worried after Paul Murray's particularly tough 12 and half year jail sentence at Mullingar Circuit Court today. The international man of mystery had seven fake identities which he used to claim social welfare from all over the midlands while living the expat's permanent-holiday dream in Thailand. He swindled €248,000 of tax-payer's money over five years. Considering that Paddy Maughan got less than five years for defrauding the UK dole of nearly three-times the amount, Murray has something to moan about in his jail cell. Those worried people are the ones recently arrested over an alleged €1 million welfare scam in Ireland. Now let's see, €248,000 equals 12 and half years, so €1 million equals.... Read RTE's court coverage here.

Suspected welfare fraud gang made €1 million from bogus claims

There's always been the whiff of urban myth about people turning up in welfare offices claiming money for someone else's kids. Now it looks the myth may be true after one suspect arrested today is believed to have claimed for eight kids even though he only had two. Read here. This looks as if it could be as big as the fraud carried out by Paddy Maughan and members of his family who cashed fake giro cheques all over the UK. Read older posts on welfare fraud here.

Two and a half years after admitting to running a pyramid scheme Breifne O'Brien is arrested

Once upon a time in 2008 a socialite businessman called Breifne O'Brien puts his hands up and told investors his great system was just a pyramid scheme. He used cash from the new investors to pay instalments to the new ones. Two and a half years later officers from the fraud section searched his new, smaller, home in Dublin and arrested O'Brien. The snail's pace of the investigation won't be of any comfort to those who lost money. Read arrest story here.

Irish rhino horn thieves have come up on #Europol radar. Remember where you read it first

Europol have issued a press release about the Dead Zoo Gang - the Rathkeale travellers stealing rhino horns all over Europe. Of course the readers of the Fakes Frauds and Scams and the Sunday World already knew this.

On-line Olympic ticket scam trio are convicted of #fraud

Here's a timely warning about on-line ticket companies. Every year people get stung by con-artists offering festival and concert tickets for sale. On-line ticket seller Xclusive were offering tickets for the 2008 Olympics in Bejing in which 2,500 people spent st£5 million for tickets that didn't exist. It was a major effort and a sophisticated scam deliberately set up to defraud people. Terrence Shepherd, Alan Scott and Allan Schaverien were convicted yesterday in London and will sentenced later this month. Read the Serious Fraud Office's press release here.