Much research on criminal networks and organised crime groups tends to focus on their structure and illicit activities in relation to illegal markets, and particularly illicit drugs from various perspectives. However, these networks and the individuals within them are not bound to the underground but seek profit wherever it can be made. Such profits also entail different forms of fraud, of which welfare fraud is an especially understudied subject. The current study aims to analyse individuals in criminal networks engaging in welfare fraud and how it connects to other forms of crime. Using register data on individuals convicted in cases involving encrypted messaging services, together with information about co-suspects (n≈20,000), the study estimates individuals’ annual centrality for 2014–2024 using social network analysis and uses these centrality indices to study change in welfare fraud involvement from two perspectives: individual-level and network-level. Results are discussed in relation to current conceptualisations of organised crime and potential policy implications.