The Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS) was the most vulnerable to organised gangs, with £258m stolen from the scheme since it was first introduced in April 2020, said law firm Pinsent Masons.

An estimated £367m was stolen from various covid schemes, including SEISS, furlough and Eat Out to Help Out.

The barriers to making a fraudulent claim under the SEISS scheme were much lower than for furlough or Eat Out to Help Out. SEISS claims only required a self-assessment income tax return to be filed.