ID thieves steal ATO tax returns

Buck passing

Tax accountancies and the ATO are not required to reimburse Camerson or Mansfield under law, according to Frank Egan, a tax lawyer of 30 years and director of Sydney-based LAC Lawyers.

Egan said that both entities had satisfied legal requirements to identify customers and it did not matter that the credentials were stolen.

“If someone is involved in identity theft and they receive a payment then it is fraud against that payer, against the Commonwealth or a person,” Egan said. “If they take someone's identity, that doesn’t alleviate the taxpayer.”

He said tax consultancies and the ATO were “entitled to rely on identity that is produced” because “as far as they are concerned, they have done what they can do”.

“They are not god, they only do due diligence”.

Mansfield had placed more than 30 phone calls to the ATO chasing his stolen return and had already obtained a replacement TFN.

Yet despite that his claim remains unpaid, the ATO said it would reimburse victims and had a “strong focus on raising awareness within the community about the importance of TFN protection and personal information”.

Mansfield said he had received no further help from H&R Block after they informed him of the fraud.

He said one Sydney branch office had not validated his identity documents when he was requested to sign up as a customer in order for H&R Block to provide details on the fraudulent claim.

“They took my word for it. I didn’t have anything with me. I just knew the details on hand. They were okay with that.”

SC Magazine has subsequently attempted to register as a customer with one H&R Block office and was asked to supply only a group certificate and a bank account number in which the funds would be paid.

The staffer said it “should not be a problem” when told identity documents were lost and could not be supplied.

Who’s the real victim?

NSW Police fraud squad detective superintendent Col Dyson, after hearing the stories of Camerson and Mansfield, said he believes the principle victim is the ATO.

“The ATO is a Commonwealth agency so that is a matter for the Australian Federal Police. The ATO was defrauded and it is the victim,” Dyson said.

The AFP would not discuss specific cases or its methods of investigation, but said in a statement that it "targets serious and complex criminal offences" notably those linked to organised crime.

Matters of individual tax fraud should be handled by the ATO it said.

It has five officers dedicated to investigating such fraud across Australia. it believed the victims should consult state police.

For Camerson and Mansfield, it remains unclear who they can turn to for assistance to recoup their lost tax claims.

Short of obtaining a new TFN, agencies could offer little advice for victims of tax fraud.

Government agencies broadly suggest victims of identity theft purchase a credit monitoring service and regularly check bank accounts.

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