A federal government agency is watching out for false bushfire recovery assistance claims after a man was charged with rorting the system.
Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said fraudsters have been put on notice after the Australian Federal Police confirmed a 50-year man from Tuncurry, New South Wales was charged with obtaining Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payments illegally.
"The vast majority of people who claim disaster assistance are honest in their dealings with the government and are in urgent need of help," Mr Robert said in a statement on Sunday.
"Unfortunately, a small number of people set out to deliberately claim benefits they're not entitled to."
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He said Services Australia have specialist teams and sophisticated fraud detection programs operating in real-time to prevent fraudulent claims.
Cases of serious fraud would be referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and convicted persons faced large fines and possible jail terms.
Over $100 million has been provided in disaster recovery payments to bushfire-impacted communities, with more than 75,000 claims processed since 16 September.
