"It's not a question of 'if' but 'when' you'll be caught," Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has warned.
A serious warning has been issued after more than 33,000 scammers tried to claim $33 million of the government's disaster recovery payments since January 2022.checks stopped the payments from going to the fake claims but Government Services Minister Bill Shorten warned others of following this summer.Man killed midway through major waterskiing race by NSW-Victoria border"The vast majority of people who submit claims are honest and are in urgent need of help.
Shorten said there were measures in place to sniff out fraudsters, and assured them that they will be stopped. Since July 2019, more than 250 people have been convicted of disaster payment fraud. Most recently, a man was sentenced after going on the run after pleading guilty to using 17 stolen identities and 66 fake identities to fraudulently claim payments for the Far North Queensland floods in February 2019.
In another incident in July last year, a Queensland man was sentenced to 122 days imprisonment after using five stolen identities to claim fake payments for the NSW floods in March 2021.
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