Four councils have joined forces to catch people wrongly claiming council tax single person discount. Preston, Chorley, Lancaster, and South Ribble - backed by Lancashire County Council - are checking a range of data to see if people are living alone.
They will be using the latest data matching technology to check 70,000 households in the areas.
The councils also have an amnesty for people wrongly claiming the discount to come forward by 30 June.
Anyone caught after this date faces a financial penalty and prosecution under the Theft Act 1968.
The councils said this was the largest exercise of its kind undertaken in the North West.
Adrian Robinson, of Preston City Council, said: "It's vitally important that we get all the money in from council tax to pay for local services such as street cleaning, leisure centres, social services and education.
"People who are incorrectly claiming the 25% single person discount cause others to have to pay more."
He added: "In our modern, busy lives, the simplest things we do now leave an electronic trace and that's all we need to find fraud or error."
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People who are incorrectly claiming the 25% single person discount cause others to have to pay more
