Fraudsters dive into flood grants and cash in on the misery of the real victims

Emergency flood relief money is the latest target for scammers looking to cash in on misery while ripping off both the taxpayer and those in actual need.

Hundreds of scumbags have emerged from the wake of the Northern NSW floods crisis to prey on its devastated victims and try to cash in on relief payments.

Service NSW and the police are investigating 1510 cases of potentially fraudulent claims for government grants.

Great grandmother and pensioner Margaret Beddoes is just one of the victims. Ms Beddoes was rescued from her South Lismore home with just the clothes she had on her back on March 1.

Everything else in her home of 49 years was lost. Ms Beddoese had to stay with family.

On April 3, with the help of her daughter Vicki Halliday, the 74-year-old applied for the rent assistance grant, but someone had already claimed it in her name and using her address.

“We rang Service NSW, we actually thought it was a glitch, we didn’t think it was untoward, but they rang back and said … someone had accessed it on that address,” Ms Halliday said.

“I had to take mum down to Service NSW to verify who she was and was from that address. We haven’t heard back yet.:

Real victims such as Margaret Beddoes are missing out on cash relief payments Picture: Danielle Smith

A Lismore resident posted on social media (see below) that the house next door to her had been empty since December but had received half a dozen letters confirming up to $3000 in flood grants to people who no longer lived there.

Service NSW has confirmed it has detected 1510 potentially fraudulent grant claims for payments designed for people impacted by floods.

Ms Halliday said: “This happened after the bushfires so why a repeat, and not lock it up and make it more secure for those who need to apply for it.

“I don’t understand why it is open slather because will scam and will do that and those who actually need it miss out.

“We have to wait for them to do an investigation for mum to get any money. I hope whoever did this rots in hell.”

Service NSW and NSW Police established Strike Force Sainsbery last November to investigate fraudulent applications for COVID-19 business support payments and then bushfire assistance fraud.

Strike Force investigators charged three men in April who allegedly claimed more than $1.3 million in fraudulent disaster payments.

Service NSW has paid more than $12 billion in support payments to customers impacted by COVID-19, bushfires and floods.

An upper house inquiry heard into the administration of public grants heard in December that more than $170 million of potential fraud was identified across bushfire and COVID-19 grants programs.

Got a news tip? Email [e-mail]

Originally published as Fraudsters dive into flood grants and cash in on the misery of the real victims