Australian police said that the 34-year-old woman and a 27-year-old man were involved in making fraudulent claims under the government’s Covid-19 Disaster Payments programme through the creation of fake identities, the Daily Mail reported.

Their schemes especially targeted those who were unable to make the claims by themselves.

Both Malaysians were reported to have been charged with dealing with the proceeds of crime after police searched a western Sydney home on Thursday.

Services Australia general manager Hank Jongen said the arrest should serve as a warning to those looking to prey on vulnerable people during times of crisis.

“We take fraud very seriously and have a responsibility to prevent people taking advantage of those who are genuinely in need,” Jongen said, according to the daily.

The report said police alleged that the fraud syndicate had been advertising assistance on social media during the pandemic, offering their services as “agents” to help people claim the government payments.

“Customers who employed the fraudulent online service provided identity documents to the ‘agents’, some reportedly paying up to A$1,000 for the agents to facilitate their claims,” it said.

The full extent of the syndicate’s reach across Australia has not yet been determined.

Operation Quantum started in September 2021 and was conducted by a joint Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Services Australia taskforce targeting abuses of Australia’s welfare system.

According to the daily, investigations into the alleged syndicate followed reports some payments were being claimed under false identities while others were being redirected to fraudsters’ bank accounts without the knowledge of the intended, legitimate recipients.

The lump sum Covid-19 Disaster Payments was introduced during the height of the lockdown in June 2021 to assist those whose income had been affected by state and territory restrictions.

Officers raided a Lidcombe home in Sydney’s west before laying charges against the man and woman on Thursday.

“The AFP and its partners will be relentless in identifying and prosecuting people who are trying to exploit the pandemic for their own greed,” AFP commander Chris Woods was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

The woman will face two counts of dealing in the proceeds of crime in court, while the man has so far been charged with just one count.

The maximum penalty for those offences is five years in jail.

The pair have been granted bail and will appear in Burwood magistrates’ court on June 16.