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Man arrested for £1m online tax fraud

London cybercrime network under investigation

Police investigating a complex online fraud which scammed more than a million pounds from taxpayers have arrested a man in London.

The 32-year-old's home in Poplar, east London was raided in the early hours of Thursday. He was taken to Bethnal Green police station on suspicion of fraud and money laundering.

The arrest follows HMRC's discovery in June of "an e-crime attack" on its self-assessment system. The attack was part of a tax repayment claim fraud.

The Met's recently-formed Police Central e-Crime Unit (PceU) said with HMRC it is now looking into "a criminal network" thought to be behind the attack.

A PCeU detective close to the investigation today declined to provide further details of how the fraud operated, citing ongoing inquiries.

Separately, DCI Terry Wilson said: "This is a complex operation by the Met and HMRC and shows how such e-crime attacks and frauds are being identified and taken very seriously by both organisations." ®

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