Gardaí probe alleged fraud by property tax helpline worker

A Garda investigation is under way into alleged attempts by an employee of a Cork-based company to use the credit card details of a number of callers to the local property tax (LPT) helpline.

Call-centre company Abtran, with offices at Curraheen in Bishopstown and on the Model Farm Rd, had been contracted by the Revenue Commissioners to operate the helpline.

Some helpline callers were asked for their credit card details and attempts were subsequently made to use those details to make online purchases.

Last night the Revenue Commissioners confirmed it was treating the matter as attempted fraud.

In a statement, Revenue said it understood that details in relation to 11 credit cards were improperly obtained by an unauthorised employee, but that no cardholder has suffered any loss.

It is understood the attempted fraud came to light after one caller to the helpline became suspicious when asked for credit card details. Gardaí were alerted and the employee in question was interviewed last Friday.

The Abtran employee has since been suspended. A Garda spokesman said last night there had been no arrests and the matter was “under investigation”.

Abtran said the incident did not involve access to electronic payment systems, which had remained secure, and that the worker had instead used a pen and paper to transcribe the details offered by the callers.

“Over the weekend advanced call recording and reporting systems have been used to immediately identify the customers affected and the gardaí have contacted the credit card companies of these customers,” it said.

“The company has identified that this is an isolated matter relating to a single individual only.”

The incident has been reported to the office of the Data Protection Commissioner. Revenue said “neither this employee nor anyone else in Abtran has access to any of Revenue’s IT systems”. Revenue said it was working to identify any similar risks.

While the relevant credit card companies have been alerted by gardaí, who in turn are alerting cardholders who may be affected, Revenue is also contacting customers “where we have contact details to reassure them and to answer any questions they may have”.

Anybody who has concerns can check their LPT payment details on www.revenue.ie or can call a dedicated Revenue number, 1890 226336, from 9am today.