Authorities have issued a stark warning to Australians who plan to claim flood disaster payments they are not entitled to.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this past week announced a series of new emergency support payments for people living in the 23 hardest hit council areas of NSW in the wake of torrential downpours.
Affected residents will be eligible for $1,000 disaster payments for adults and $400 for children.
But with the promise of free money comes fraud. And the internet has erupted with Aussies joking about plans to fraudulently claim the payments.
Comedians posted videos of themselves chucking electronic equipment in their pools and hosing down their carpet as 'proof' they deserve to be paid.
TikTok comedian Jon Bernard Kairouz is one of several people to post clips joking about how to fake a $1,000 flood payment from the government. It's not suggested he, or anyone else in this story, has actually done so
It is not suggested that any of the many Aussies joking about fraud have done so themselves.
However, taxpayer-funded payment schemes for natural disasters have been exploited in recent flood disasters.
In March, Daily Mail Australia reported that thousands of Australians who were unaffected by recent weather appeared to be claiming the payments.
On Friday, the NSW government confirmed it has already identified 3,000 cases of suspected fraud relating to the February to March round of state government flood grants.
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