Internet "influencers" are contributing to Britain's soaring welfare bill by teaching fans to claim huge sums in sickness benefits. One video tells viewers they can receive up to £62,000 by making claims for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

In another video, a self-styled "ADHD coach" shows off Bose headphones and a Dell screen, saying he received them through a government scheme called Access to Work. Reform Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: "It's increasingly clear people are gaming the system, spurred on by social media influencers who are taking it in at the taxpayers' expense. The authorities should be coming down on welfare scammers like a ton of bricks. And we urgently need to return to in-person assessments to root out those choosing to be on benefits."

The findings were revealed in a report from the Policy Exchange think tank. It warned that social media and AI are helping drive a huge increase in the numbers claiming benefits for disabilities or long-term illness.

Government figures show 16.8 million people, roughly one quarter of the population, considered themselves disabled in 2023-24, up from about 11.9 million in 2013-14.

There are now over 4.2 million people on Universal Credit who are not expected to look for work, and 1.5 million people are now claiming a benefit called Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for mental health conditions - up by 100,000 in the space of a year.

The UK spends £76.9 billion annually on benefits to support disabled people and people with health problems.

Influencers encourage viewers to apply for benefits, according to the report. It said: "The effect is that individuals who might not even think very much of their characteristics or symptoms are told that they might form part of a wider diagnosis, making them eligible for government support."

Videos then provide advice about how to fill in forms in order to get money. One TikTok video entitled "PIP Example Answers!!! Mental Health" has 268,300 views.

Claimants are also offering each other advice on forums such as Facebook groups, researchers found.

The report said: "We identified multiple online communities with thousands of active members, dominated by posts asking how to describe symptoms, what to include in forms, and what people are entitled to.

"Advice commonly emphasises strategic presentation, including explicit encouragement to 'lay it on thick' and not understate frequency or severity."

AI services which "tend to suggest ways in which individuals might frame their circumstances to demonstrate eligibility and secure support" are also growing in popularity.

Gareth Lyon, Head of Health and Social Care at Policy Exchange, said: "The benefits system needs to be robust, respected and recognised as legitimate. It was designed for a world in which information moved slowly but social media platforms, online communities and artificial intelligence tools have fundamentally changed that environment and are putting the integrity of the system at risk while costs to taxpayers escalate to unsustainable levels."

The think tank called for a series of changes to benefit applications, including requiring stronger medical evidence to support claims and a formal diagnosis for mental health conditions. It said face-to-face assessments should become the default, with remote assessments used only where clearly justified.

A DWP Spokesperson said: "We're fixing the broken welfare system we inherited which allowed 80% of assessments to take place virtually.

"As the report says, we are substantially increasing the proportion of face-to-face assessments to 30%, as part of a package of reforms that will save £1.9bn.

"We are also cracking down on benefit fraud and encourage anyone who suspects it to report it to us. Actively promoting, encouraging, or assisting in fraud is a crime with a punishment of up to 10 years in prison."