Security News > 2022 > December > UK arrests five for selling 'dodgy' point of sale software
Tax authorities from Australia, Canada, France, the UK and the USA have conducted a joint probe into "Electronic sales suppression software" - applications that falsify point of sale data to help merchants avoid paying tax on their true revenue.
A Friday announcement [PDF] from the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, states that the probe "Resulted in the arrest of five individuals in the United Kingdom who allegedly designed and sold electronic sales suppression systems internationally."
"These dodgy sales suppression tools allow retailers to keep a separate set of books and launder the money in one transaction," explained J5 chief and Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner John Ford.
"So what might happen is that the customer orders a $60 steak and a $100 bottle of wine," Ford explained, at which point the software changes the transaction so it is recorded in the point of sale system as "a $10 bowl of chips and a $4 bottle of soft drink."
Ford suggested sales suppression tech is also sold "As hardware that connects to point of sales systems, as cloud-based software, and as capability built directly into the software."
J5 tax agencies are now reviewing the records of known or suspected users of these technologies, and the group's statement on its probe includes a canned quote from Dutch tax authorities too.