Croydon will join four other London boroughs in a major crackdown on criminals after London councils have been defrauded out of nearly £100 million.

The council will team up with Camden, Ealing, Islington and Southwark to pilot the London Counter Fraud Hub scheme, which will eventually be rolled out to all boroughs in the capital and aims to target people who illegally let property and do not pay council tax or business rates.

The hub matches data collected by the London Authority with records collected by councils to prevent fraud and identify any losses that need to be investigated or recovered.

An estimated £60 million a year can be saved through the hub, which is run with data analytics provided by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, according to Croydon Council.

It also suggested London councils had been defrauded out of nearly £100 million, with housing frauds accounting for £74.5m of the total.

Councillor Simon Hall, cabinet member for finance and treasury, said: “I’m very pleased Croydon is at the vanguard of this new crackdown on fraudsters.

“It’s absolutely wrong that the majority of council tax payers should have to subsidise this sort of illegal behaviour. Croydon already has a great record in tracking down on fraud, however, by working together with other boroughs to share data we can do so much more.”

Edward Lord, OBE, Chair of London Councils’ capital ambition board, said: “It is vital that we find innovative ways to ensure councils are not losing money as a result of fraud.

“The five boroughs piloting the hub will have access to the most sophisticated data analytics to identify potential criminals, and seeing the hub in action will allow us to build a clear picture of the situation, take swift action, and ensure money lost to fraud is recouped to be spent on public services in Camden, Ealing, Islington, Southwark and Croydon.

“Estimates suggest councils across the country are defrauded to the tune of £2.1billion every year. Once operating across all boroughs, the hub will help bring down this worrying total and will make uncovering and sanctioning those responsible easier.”