| Tax credit system website shut down after being hit by fraudsters |
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LONDON - HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has been forced to shut down its website after it emerged that fraudsters were using the identities of the staff the Department of Work and Pensions to make fraudulent claims.
The site, which was a portal for the tax credit system was taken down on 1 December. Basically, tax credits are issued for the benefit of poor families and for people with low incomes. It was not clear if other sites on the DWP system have also been affected because of this fraud by organized gangsters. HM Revenue and Customs said that it had launched an enquiry into the whole episode. "As soon as we noticed there was fraud taking place, we brought the system down. Like any big organization, we take fraud very seriously," said a HMRC spokeswoman.
A helpline has also been set up to counsel DWP staff who think that they have been victimized because of this fraud. They have been assured that they would not face any problem if any fraud has been committed using their name falsely. However, applications for tax credits are still being accepted if delivered in person, by post or even from telephone.
This is not the first time that the systems' security has been bypassed and it has provide further ammunition for Chancellor Gordon Brown's critics, "Ministers have led parliament to believe that the level of fraud is somewhere in the region of just £30m - I suspect the real figure is substantially higher," said David Laws, Liberal Democrat's spokesman for work and pensions.
"Ministers must now make a statement on Monday, firstly as to why they have taken so long to deal with the problem and why such drastic action is necessary." He added that this was a huge embarrassment for Brown.
The tax credit system had paid out £13.8 billion in the year ending April 2005. It was not clear as to the exact amount that had been overpaid. In 2004 almost £2.2 billion was overpaid according to official figures.
Posted
on : Sun, 04 Dec 2005 15:35 GMT | Debt News
By : Mike Lawson
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