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🚨 Malicious Fraud Reporting to the DWP: Why It Must End

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Press play to watch/listen to “Malicious Fraud Reporting to the DWP: Why It Must End.”

@msbenefitsupport

In the last 24 hours I’ve been targeted with threats that I’ll be reported to the DWP for benefit fraud. I know I’m not alone — this happens to so many disabled people and it’s terrifying. #DisabilityRights #StopTheAbuse #BenefitJustice #EndMaliciousReports #ProtectDisabledPeople

♬ original sound – Powered ByWheels | MS Advocate

Published: August 2025
By: Rachael | Wheelie MS Advocate

What Is Malicious Fraud Reporting?

Malicious fraud reporting happens when someone makes a false or exaggerated allegation of benefit fraud to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). Instead of targeting genuine fraudsters, people often make these reports out of spite, jealousy, or prejudice.

Currently, the DWP accepts anonymous reports, which means anyone with a grudge can weaponise the process against neighbours, friends, ex-partners and on social media..

Malicious Fraud Reporting in black text on a lightboard

The Human Cost

False fraud allegations cause serious harm to innocent claimants. While the DWP investigates, disabled people and those with long-term conditions face unnecessary stress and uncertainty.

The impact goes far beyond paperwork:

  • Mental health suffers – many people experience anxiety, sleepless nights, and fear of losing their income.
  • Finances take a hit – investigations often delay or disrupt payments.
  • Stigma deepens – malicious reports reinforce damaging stereotypes about benefit claimants.

As a result, vulnerable people live in fear rather than in security.

Human CostMental HealthFinancial HardshipStigma Discrimination

Why the Current System Is Broken

The DWP argues that fraud investigations protect taxpayers. However, the reality tells a different story. By allowing anonymous reporting, the department leaves the door wide open to abuse.

This system does not create fairness. Instead, it fuels mistrust and division. Innocent people feel targeted, while malicious reporters face no real consequences.

What Needs to Change

Campaigners and disabled people are calling for urgent reform. The DWP must:

  1. End anonymous reporting – require names and contact details to prevent abuse.
  2. Introduce penalties – hold people accountable for false and malicious claims.
  3. Protect claimants – safeguard vulnerable people during investigations so they are not left without essential support.

Only then will the system reflect fairness and compassion.

Voices from the Community

So many people have reached out to me with their own stories of being falsely reported to the DWP — here are just a few of the voices from the community:

“After my ex-wife saw my financial information in court during our divorce, I was suddenly reported for fraud. I had no money for two months while under investigation and couldn’t even pay my rent. The system left me completely helpless.”

“The far right have doxed me, reported me to the DWP, and targeted me and my disabled child in awful ways. Watching your videos has given me confidence to speak up, because I know I’m not alone now. If my money gets stopped, I can’t even buy the medical supplies my girls need. This should be a criminal offence. I’m scared, but I hope this petition gets through.”

“I was reported maliciously, and I know exactly who it was. It left me in a very dark place mentally. My husband, who is also my carer, kept telling me not to let it get to me, but it really hurt. Why on earth would I want to lie about being disabled? My condition has already robbed me of living a normal life.”

These stories show the devastating human cost of a broken system. Nobody should be punished or pushed to breaking point because of a false report.

Make Malicious Benefit Fraud Reporting a Criminal Offence

👉 [Sign and share the petition here ]

Final Thoughts

Malicious fraud reporting does not protect the system. Instead, it damages lives. Innocent people lose income, stability, and peace of mind while malicious reporters walk away untouched.

Together, we can stop this injustice. Please sign and share the petition so that no one else has to suffer like this.

🎧🎶Listen and Watch

🔊Podcast on Spotify: Wheelie MS Advocate

Related articles:

Want to share your story or ask a question? Drop it in the comments or check out TikTok. Let’s talk.

Rach xx

I Reported Online Disability Hate. The Police Said They Couldn’t Help.

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⚠️ Content Warning: This post discusses ableism, online abuse, and includes references to ableist slurs such as “cripple.” It may be distressing to some readers. Please take care.

Press play to watch/listen to “I Reported Online Disability Hate. The Police Said They Couldn’t Help.”

Published: August 2025
By: Rachael | Wheelie MS Advocate

Every Time I Open TikTok, Someone Tries to Break Me.

They call me a faker. A benefit cheat. A scrounger. A “cripple.”
They mock the way I move. They zoom in on my wheelchair.
They stitch my videos to “expose” me, not for anything I’ve done wrong, but for daring to exist as a disabled person in public.

It’s not once in a while. It’s every single week.

And recently, it crossed a line, again.

This Time, They Used a Slur. Publicly. Repeatedly.

A user on X (Twitter) mocked me for being disabled, called me a “cripple,” accused me of grifting the system, and implied that people like me, wheelchair users, motability car users who dare to speak, are all liars and fakers.

It was shared widely. Others joined in.

I did what we’re told to do: I reported it as a hate crime. I gathered my evidence. I followed the process.

I hoped someone would take it seriously.

The Police Said: “They’re Not in the UK. We Can’t Help.”

That was it. No further support. No safeguarding check-in.
Just an apology and a shrug, because the person spewing the abuse appeared to be abroad.

So the message was clear: if someone targets me with hate online from outside the UK, it doesn’t count.

But it does count. It happens constantly. And it cuts deeper every time.

TikTok Abuse Is Like a Dripping Tap. Except Every Drop Burns.

It’s easy for people to say, “Just ignore it,” or “Don’t let it get to you.”

But what they don’t see is the cumulative effect of hundreds of strangers dissecting your body, questioning your identity, laughing at your pain.

They don’t see the hours spent moderating comments, blocking users, and checking replies before you dare to look.

They don’t feel the sting of seeing your disability turned into entertainment, again.

Why Does No One Protect Us?

Why are disabled people left to manage this violence alone?

If someone screamed these things at me in a supermarket, the law would protect me. But online, on TikTok, X, or anywhere else, it’s apparently too complicated, too far away, too digital to matter.

The system tells me to report. So I do. But when I need it to respond, it doesn’t.

The Emotional Toll No One Talks About

This isn’t just about “mean comments.” This is about fear. About exhaustion. About slowly being chipped away at until you’re too tired to post, too scared to speak, too drained to advocate.

This is about logging into an app, knowing that no matter what you say, or how gently you say it, someone will find a reason to dehumanise you.

Sometimes, the Cruellest Comments Come From People Like Us

It would be easier, in some twisted way, if all the hate came from trolls with anime avatars and burner accounts.

But it doesn’t.

Some of it comes from our own.
From other disabled people.
From people who’ve lived through the benefits system.
From people who should know better, and probably do, deep down.

They accuse me of lying. Of not being “disabled enough.”
Being able to work, therefore, is not a reason to deserve support.
As if being a disabled person who can work means I should be punished for trying.

What they don’t see is the compromise, the exhaustion, the planning behind every video, every post, every minute of content. They don’t see the days I can’t film, the hours I crash, the energy that runs out before the work is done.

I work because I can, in a limited, adaptive, precarious way.
But I still deserve protection. I still deserve care.
And I still deserve respect.

This internalised ableism, this cruelty dressed up as critique. It hurts just as much, sometimes more. Because it’s not just about ignorance. It’s about betrayal

We are disabled — not stupid.We’ve had careers, run businesses, raised families.Disability didn’t take our minds.It didn’t take our worth.Stop talking down to us.

Please Stop Calling Me Strong

I don’t want to be strong all the time.
I shouldn’t have to be.

When people call me “strong” for surviving this, for putting up with abuse, for navigating systems that fail me, for carrying on anyway, it doesn’t always feel like a compliment.

Sometimes, it feels like gaslighting.

Like you’re admiring my ability to suffer quietly.
Like you’re saying, “This is just who you are, someone who copes.”

But I don’t want to cope. I want to live.
I want to create without being attacked.
I want to exist online without needing armour.
I want softness. Safety. Rest.

I don’t want to be strong all the time.I shouldn’t have to be.

Calling me strong won’t undo the harm. It won’t stop the abuse. It just shifts the expectation back onto me to keep enduring it without complaint.

What I need isn’t praise for my resilience.
What I need is change. I don’t want to be strong all the time. I don’t want to educate people who only show up to harm me. I just want to exist, safely, in the same spaces as everyone else.

We Need More Than Advice. We Need Action.

Online ableism is real. It’s constant. And it’s killing people’s confidence, joy, and well-being, slowly but surely.

We don’t need more “tips for coping.” We need systems that actually protect disabled people, online and off.

We need hate crime laws that reflect the way abuse actually happens, through screens, across borders, in comment sections, and under usernames.

And we need that protection now more than ever, because this government puts disabled people under constant pressure to work, perform, and justify our existence. When we’re being hounded online for simply showing up, how are we supposed to “prove” we’re trying hard enough?

Conclusion: I’m Still Here. But I’m So, So Tired.

If you’re reading this and you’ve experienced the same, I see you.

If you’re a disabled creator who’s been harassed out of your space, I believe you.

And if you’re in power, or in policing, or in tech, we need you to do better.

Because right now, the message to disabled people is loud and clear:
“You’re on your own.”

And that’s not good enough. Use the #HateCrime wherever you see it.

🎧🎶Listen and Watch

🔊Podcast on Spotify: Wheelie MS Advocate

Related articles:

Want to share your story or ask a question? Drop it in the comments or check out TikTok. Let’s talk.

Rach xx

The Truth Behind the ‘Better Off on Benefits’ Lie

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Press play to watch/listen to “The Truth Behind the ‘Better Off on Benefits’ Lie”

Published: July 2025
By: Rachael | Wheelie MS Advocate

Another Harmful Headline – But the Damage Is Real

Daily Mail Front Page Headline - Proof work doesn't pay under labour, sickness benefits to be worth £2,500 more than minimum wage as disincentive to work grows.

This week, the Daily Mail ran yet another inflammatory headline claiming that people on sickness benefits are now “better off” than minimum wage workers, quoting a figure of £2,500 more. It’s not just misleading. It’s harmful. And it’s not the first time we’ve seen this kind of scapegoating, but that doesn’t make it easier to stomach.

I’d Give Anything to Go Back to My Old Life

I’m a disabled person. I’m on Universal Credit and PIP. And I would give anything to go back to my old life, my pre-disabled life, when I was working as an NHS manager. That life gave me purpose, independence, and stability.

Sharing My Story Isn’t Just Personal – It’s Political


I didn’t choose this. I didn’t ask to be sick. And I certainly didn’t ask to be demonised in the press for needing support.

Since becoming disabled, I’ve used my voice online as a disability advocate and content creator, sharing the reality of life with MS, using a wheelchair, navigating the welfare system, and facing a society that often sees us as a problem to be fixed.

Politicians and the media want to paint us as benefit cheats with ring lights. But I won’t apologise for being visible.

When you’re disabled, sharing your story becomes a form of resistance, even though it means opening yourself up to scrutiny, trolling, and stigma. I speak out because silence doesn’t protect us, and neither do headlines that treat our survival as a scandal.

Judgment on the Street – and Online

People see these headlines and feel emboldened to stare, to comment, to question whether I’m disabled because I can stand from my wheelchair. I’ve had strangers confront me in public. But it doesn’t stop there; the abuse follows you online, too.

As someone who speaks openly about disability and welfare, I’m continually targeted with trolling, accusations of faking, and cruel comments that question my right to exist in public, let alone receive support. These headlines don’t just shape opinions; they permit people to attack us. And they do.

Policy Shaped by Prejudice, Not Truth

And then there’s the policymaking side, perhaps even more dangerous. Sensational headlines help create the political cover for welfare reform at breakneck speed.

From Tabloid Rage to Government Cuts

We’ve seen this time and again: government ministers pointing to skewed statistics and tabloid outrage to justify cuts, reassessments, and increasingly stringent eligibility requirements. These aren’t just numbers. These are our lives. Our food. Our medication. Our ability to heat our homes.

The Reality of Living on Benefits

The reality of living on disability benefits is far from what the Daily Mail portrays. It’s fear. It’s paperwork. It’s waiting weeks or months for decisions that determine whether you can eat.


It’s being left off sick pay because your condition fluctuates. It’s being too ill to work, but made to prove it over and over again to people who’ve never lived a day in your body.

“Better Off”? We’re Judged, Watched, and Left Behind

No one on benefits feels “better off.” We feel watched. Judged. Devalued.

From Sick Notes to Gym Prescriptions -The Agenda is Clear

Stop giving millions of sick notes and send people to the gym, GPs told.

And just when you think they can’t push it further, we get this: GPs being told to stop giving out sick notes and send people to the gym instead. That headline alone tells you everything. There’s no interest in understanding why people are too sick to work, just a push to make us look employable.

It’s ableism dressed up as policy. And it’s terrifying. Because underneath it all is a refusal to believe we’re actually ill, that our conditions are real, or that rest and care might be more effective than a treadmill. They don’t want us well — they want us gone from the stats.

Question the Headlines. Stand With Us.

So next time you see a headline like that, I ask you to stop and question it. Ask yourself who benefits from framing disabled people as lazy or lucky.


Because it’s certainly not us. Use the #HateCrime wherever you see it.

🎧 Listen and Watch

🔊 Podcast on Spotify: Wheelie MS Advocate

Related articles:
Starmer says he will go after grifters |
Motability |
Benefits Checker |

📌 Need support or want to take action? Check out Wheelie Links for petitions and resources, write to your MP, and help navigate disability and the care system.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Drop it in the comments or check out TikTok. Let’s talk.

Rach xx

MS Diagnosis: Why You Deserve Time to Process

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Press play to watch/listen to “MS Diagnosis: Why You Deserve Time to Process”

Published: July 2025
By: Rachael | Wheelie MS Advocate

Receiving the Diagnosis: A Life-Altering Moment

When you’re newly diagnosed with MS, it can feel like your entire world shifts in an instant. The emotional impact of MS is real; shock, denial, fear, and even numbness are all valid responses.

Processing your MS diagnosis takes time, and support after an MS diagnosis doesn’t always come immediately. That’s okay.

You Don’t Have to Tell Anyone Right Away

Whether it’s your friends, family, or even work, there’s often pressure to explain. But this is your MS diagnosis process, and you don’t owe anyone an explanation until you feel ready.

This stage is about how to cope with an MS diagnosis, not performing for others.

MS Diagnosis: Why You Deserve Time to Process Share on X

MS in the Media vs. Real-Life

TV shows and documentaries are talking more about living with MS, but even the most well-intentioned can’t capture the personal and emotional layers of the condition.

Your reality matters more than how it’s portrayed on screen.


MS affects everyone differently, and no screen can capture your day-to-day reality, your emotions, or your choices.

This Is Your Experience, Not Theirs

This is your experience.
Not your friends.
Not your family’s.
Yours.

Support for MS diagnosis doesn’t have to mean sharing everything right away. It can mean giving yourself space to process.

Take the Time You Need

There’s no timeline for how to feel after an MS diagnosis. You don’t have to be strong every day. You don’t have to have answers.

Give yourself grace. This is your emotional response to MS, and it’s valid.

Be kind to yourself. You’re doing the best you can.

You don’t need to be strong.
You don’t need to explain.
You need time.

Be gentle with yourself.
You’re doing the best you can in this chapter of your life.

💬 Final Thoughts

Whether you share your diagnosis today, next month, or never, it’s entirely your decision. This is your process, and there’s no deadline.


You are not alone.

🎧 Listen and Watch

🔊 Podcast on Spotify:
The Illusion of Accessibility – Listen here

📺 YouTube Video Interview:
Watch the full conversation

Related articles:
MS Society/Diagnosis |
MS Society/Supporting someone with a diagnosis |
Benefits Checker |

📌 Need support or want to take action? Check out Wheelie Links for petitions, and resources, write to your MP, and help navigate disability and the care system.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Drop it in the comments or check out TikTok. Let’s talk.
#MSDiagnosis #ThisIsMS #StopMS #MultipleSclerosis #MSSupport

Rach xx

🎙 The Illusion of Accessibility: A Broken System Exposed

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Press play to watch/listen to “🎙 The Illusion of Accessibility: A Broken System Exposed”

Published: July 2025
By: Rachael | Wheelie MS Advocate

The Illusion of Accessibility: A Broken System Exposed

When we think of accessibility, we often picture wheelchair ramps, lifts, or automatic doors. But as disability advocate Lee Turner points out in our latest episode of the Wheelie MS Advocate Podcast, these are just the surface-level signs of inclusion, not the full picture.

True accessibility means being able to navigate systems, healthcare, welfare, transport, and education without barriers. And right now, that’s still far from the reality for many disabled people in the UK and beyond.

🚫 Accessibility Isn’t Just About Ramps

In this powerful conversation, Lee shares his personal experience of being invited to a supposedly accessible public event, only to find multiple barriers that made it unsafe and unusable. These kinds of failures are far too common.

We cover:

  • The illusion of accessibility in public services
  • How government systems often ignore real-world disabled needs
  • The emotional toll of constantly fighting for basic access
  • Why lived experience must guide accessibility design

“It was like being invited to a roundtable, only to find it was nailed to the ceiling" Lee Turner Share on X

🎧 Listen and Watch

🔊 Podcast on Spotify:
The Illusion of Accessibility – Listen here

📺 YouTube Video Interview:
Watch the full conversation

👉 Follow:

Lee Turner

Conclusion:


If a space, event, or system only looks accessible, but fails in reality, it’s just performance. We deserve better. It’s time we move beyond box-ticking and start building a society that includes everyone, from design to delivery.

#AccessibilityMatters #DisabilityRights #WheelieMSAdvocate #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #InclusionNow #DWP #Consultations #Newcastle

Related articles:
Amended Bill |
Disability News |
Disability Rights |

📌 Need support or want to take action? Check out Wheelie Links for petitions, resources, write to your MP and help navigating disability and the care system.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Drop it in the comments or check out TikTok. Let’s talk.
#ESAReform #DWP #ContributionBasedESA #GreenPaper #Accessibility

Rach xx

What the Government’s New ESA Reforms Mean for Me – and Possibly for You Too

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Press play to watch/listen to “What the Government’s New ESA Reforms Mean for Me – and Possibly for You Too” or scroll to continue reading.

Published: May 2025
By: Rachael | Wheelie MS Advocate

Living with LCWRA and Contribution-Based ESA – My Current Reality

Right now, I receive contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) with the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) component. It’s not something I take for granted. After years of working and contributing to National Insurance, this benefit is a vital source of stability for me, it helps cover essentials and offers a bit of security in a world that isn’t always accessible.

But the government has now proposed a new ESA reforms. And frankly, I’m worried.

The new ESA reforms want to Replace Contribution-Based ESA With “Unemployment Insurance”

According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and reports like the one in The Big Issue, the plan is to scrap contribution-based ESA and replace it with something called Unemployment Insurance.

At first glance, it might sound similar. But here’s the catch, new ESA reforms show:

  • It will be time-limited (unlike ESA, which I can continue receiving based on my condition).
  • It won’t require proof that you can’t work, yet it will expect you to look for work while claiming.
  • The benefit will be fixed at £138 per week.

This could mean that people like me, who have complex health conditions that limit our ability to work, might be expected to job-search while still unwell. That’s not support. That’s pressure.

The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) Is Going Too

By 2028, the government plans to abolish the Work Capability Assessment, the very tool that determined my LCWRA status. Instead, they’ll move to a system more aligned with PIP assessments.

That might sound efficient, but I can’t help but think of all the people who struggle to get approved for PIP, even with serious health issues. If this becomes the only route to proving we need extra support, many of us could fall through the cracks.

Changes to the Health Element in Universal Credit Are Also Coming

Here’s another kicker, with new ESA reforms.

  • If you’re already getting the LCWRA element, it’ll be frozen at £97/week until 2029/30.
  • But if you apply after 2026, that same support will only be worth £50/week.

Yes, almost half the amount. How are people supposed to manage, people will still require the same support.

Yes, almost half the amount. How are people supposed to manage, people will still require the same support. #NewESAReforms Share on X

What This Means for Me, and Possibly for You

As someone who works for myself and relies on contribution-based ESA with LCWRA as a safety net when my health makes working impossible, these changes feel deeply personal. They threaten the fragile financial and emotional balance I’ve built through sheer determination. I’ve worked, I’ve contributed, and like many others with fluctuating or long-term conditions, I rely on this support during the times I physically can’t earn. Now I’m being told that this fallback might come with conditions I can’t meet, or vanish altogether.

I’m not saying the current system is perfect. But this? It feels like it’s moving away from empathy and toward exclusion. It doesn’t reflect the messy, non-linear reality that so many disabled people live with, especially those of us who don’t fit neatly into government-defined boxes.

What Can We Do?

We can’t just sit quietly. Here’s what I’m doing, and what you might consider doing too:

  • Write to your MP. Tell them how these changes could affect your life. They need to hear our stories.
  • Get involved with disability rights organisations. Groups like Disability Rights UK are already pushing back.
  • Share your experience. Whether it’s a blog post, a tweet, or a letter to a newspaper—your voice matters.
  • Prepare. I know it’s exhausting, but staying informed gives us a fighting chance.

💬 Final Thoughts on new ESA reforms

These reforms aren’t just policy tweaks, they’re decisions that will affect real people like me, and maybe you too. If you’re on ESA, PIP, or Universal Credit, or care about someone who is, now is the time to pay attention. Because once this change comes, it may be too late to reverse it.

And let’s not ignore what’s happening with Access to Work either. The proposed changes and tighter controls there will make it even harder for disabled people to get into work or stay in it. That’s the cruel irony, we’re told to work if we can, but then the support that makes work even possible is being stripped back too.

We need to stop seeing these systems as “benefits” we’re lucky to get and start recognising them as essential tools for equality. Without them, many of us are shut out of both employment and support. That’s not reform, it’s exclusion.

We need to stop seeing these systems as “benefits” we’re lucky to get and start recognising them as essential tools for equality. Without them, many of us are shut out of both employment and support. That’s not reform, it’s exclusion. Share on X

Related articles:
Citizens Advice |
Disability News |
Disability Rights |

📌 Need support or want to take action? Check out Wheelie Links for petitions, resources, write to your MP and help navigating disability and the care system.

Want to share your story or ask a question? Drop it in the comments or check out TikTok. Let’s talk.
#ESAReform #DWP #ContributionBasedESA #GreenPaper

Rach xx

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