Understanding the major causes of fraud
Based on interviews conducted by a newspaper (specifics withheld for anonymity), the GST fraud that was promoted on TikTok was very simple to execute. All that the person needed to do was to apply for a business number, lodge the claim on the government website or app, and submit it to get the GST refund after a specified number of days. What made matters worse was that a number of social influencers on TikTok made people believe that it was okay, saying that it was a temporary loan.
The use of social media aggravated the situation and more than 50,000 people in that country took advantage of the weakness in the government agency's platform. As a result of these fraudulent claims, more than a billion US dollars were paid out (converted using today's exchange rate). The expectation was for people to submit a claim for their business expenses and be reimbursed for the allowable limit of the GST to help businesses with their cash flow...