Welfare fraud tipsters to receive minimum 100,000 won reward

The government will set a minimum reward of 100,000 won ($68) for people who report fraudulent claims of social welfare benefits, and will establish a dedicated committee to review reward payments.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Friday that it has pre-notified a partial revision to its administrative notice governing the handling of welfare benefit fraud reports and the payment of reporting rewards, and will accept public comments through Aug. 10.

The revision aims to streamline the reward payment process and clarify calculation criteria to improve the overall efficiency of the fraud-reporting reward system.

Under the revised rules, rewards will be calculated on a sliding scale based on the amount ordered to be recovered following a fraud report. Regardless of how small that amount is, the minimum reward is guaranteed at 100,000 won. Any amount below 1,000 won will be rounded down when calculating the reward.

The revision also sets out detailed reward payment tiers based on the amount ordered for recovery.

When the recovery amount is 100 million won or less, the reward equals 30 percent of that amount. For amounts above 100 million won up to 500 million won, the reward is 30 million won plus 20 percent of the amount exceeding 100 million won. For amounts above 500 million won up to 2 billion won, it is 110 million won plus 14 percent of the amount exceeding 500 million won. For amounts above 2 billion won up to 4 billion won, the reward is 320 million won plus 8 percent of the amount exceeding 2 billion won. For amounts exceeding 4 billion won, it is 480 million won plus 4 percent of the amount above 4 billion won.

A new reward review committee will also be established under the minister of health and welfare to ensure fairness in the payment process.

The committee will be chaired by the ministry's inspector general and composed of five to seven members, including experts in social welfare benefits, social welfare and law. Members will serve two-year terms, with reappointment allowed.

Any reward exceeding 10 million won, or any case requiring adjustment of the payment amount, must go through the committee's deliberation and resolution. The committee may adjust reward amounts by considering factors such as the credibility of the tipster's evidence, whether the tipster was involved in the illegal activity, and the degree to which the report contributed to preventing further violations.

The revision also specifies reporting methods and administrative procedures.

In addition to the existing online reporting channel through the Bokjiro welfare portal, dedicated forms will be introduced for submissions by mail or fax. Reports must in principle be processed within 60 days of receipt, with a possible extension of up to 30 days when supplementary review is needed.

A tipster who receives notice of a reward payment decision must submit a reward application within 30 days of that notice. If the application is not submitted on time, the ministry will issue a follow-up request giving the tipster at least 10 days to respond. If the tipster fails to respond without valid reason, or refuses to accept the reward, the ministry may close the case without payment.

If a tipster is found to have received a reward through fraudulent means — such as filing a false report or fabricating evidence — the reward will be recovered without delay.

Reports will be excluded from reward eligibility if the content is false or too vague to identify a specific subject, or if the submitted evidence is so lacking in credibility that the subject cannot be confirmed.

Cases in which rewards are paid under separate laws or administrative rules — including fraudulent claims involving social service electronic vouchers, child care centers, long-term care institutions and national health insurance — are excluded from the scope of this notice.

The revised rules will apply to reports filed after the notice takes effect.