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A man has been arrested after being linked to 63 fraudulent tax return lodgements, totalling over half a million dollars.
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Tax return fraud exposed in joint police, ATO swoop
05 October 2017
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Today, the tax office announced the arrest of a 25-year-old man on 106 charges related to Commonwealth fraud and identity crime, following a joint investigation between the ATO, and Queensland police service's Financial and Cyber Group and State Crime Command .
The man has allegedly been linked to 63 fraudulent tax return lodgements via myTax between September 2015 and July 2016, with the alleged fraud totalling $566,762.
The investigation revealed that the man has 42 bank accounts in his name which were linked to 54 unique tax file number (TFN) identity take-overs.
“The ATO uses sophisticated data analysis tools to catch criminals who attempt to break the law,” ATO deputy commissioner Will Day said.
“These alleged crimes are serious. For those who deliberately try to defraud the Commonwealth and rip off honest taxpayers, our message is simple – you will be caught, and you will face prosecution.”
Mr Day also took the opportunity to remind all taxpayers to keep their identifying information, like tax file numbers, bank account details and their date of birth, secure.
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“Fraudsters can steal personal identification information using various methods from sources outside of the ATO,” Mr Day said.
“This information is then used to impersonate ATO clients and lodge fraudulent tax returns.”
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