14 DAY TRIAL // The crisis paralyzed the activity of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the agency announced it was shutting down its online service as a result of the enormous 30 million pound fraud.
The department announced that it has identified and blocked attempts to defraud the Tax Credits system by registering claims through the tax credits website.
This "brilliant" heist was possible by making false claims through the tax credits e-portal. A criminal investigation has been launched which will establish if a number of Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff had their identities stolen and used in fraudulent tax credit claims. Until the investigation proves who is responsible and what were the means used to work this heist, the website application will remain closed.
Unfortunately, this isn't the first IT-related wrong step the tax credit system is making, and the EDS Company which provided the computing systems used by the HMRC has already agreed to pay compensation of ?71 million.