An ActewAGL call centre worker has been charged with skimming money from customers by saving personal and bank details she had accessed as part of her job.
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The woman is alleged to have stolen more than $13,000 in about three months.
Jessica Kate Anderson, 29, of Gungahlin, appeared in the ACT Magistrates Court on Saturday following her arrest on Friday night.
She did not enter pleas, and did not apply for bail.
The woman is charged with 15 counts of dishonestly obtaining money through her work as an ActewAGL retail customer care contact centre contractor, a position she obtained through a labour hire company.
It is alleged she would note down the details of customers who called up, targeting people who had set up regular payments with ActewAGL to manage their bills and subsequently had accounts in credit. She would then transfer the amount in credit from their accounts to hers.
The court heard when police searched the woman's home on Friday night, they found a list of account details.
The court also heard an alleged co-offender is yet to be charged.
The woman gained employment with the ActewAGL call centre in September 2016.
Her duties involved answering calls for natural gas accounts. In January 2017, her duties were expanded to involve calls around electricity, water and sewerage and natural gas.
Court documents said she had access to personal customer information including identity details, bank details, account balances, transaction history, as well as the ability to reverse and issue bills, refund requests and direct debit lodgements.
The first offence allegedly occurred on April 18, 2017. Court documents state the defendant answered a call from a woman, as per her usual work duties.
The defendant allegedly accessed the woman's account and personal details, but did not mention the account was in credit. On the same date, it is alleged that $360 was transferred from the customer's account to a Commonwealth Bank account, which was the same given by the defendant to her employer when she commenced employment.
In the escalating and ongoing offences, it is alleged the defendant would receive a call from a customer about an account and take down their details.
If the account was in credit, the defendant allegedly would then call up the customer call centre at a later time pretending to be that customer by providing personal details.
She allegedly would request a transfer of the amount in credit to her own bank account, or subsequent bank accounts she set up linked to her initial account.
It is alleged in court documents that Thales Australia, a contractor for the Australian Defence Force, was caught up in the scheme when the woman stole $1100 from their account in credit.
It is also alleged the reference numbers used in transferring the money to the defendant's accounts were the same as the customer's account number.
The alleged scheme began to unravel when a customer phoned ActewAGL on May 22 querying the transfer of $2000 that appeared on her recent bill as a refund. The woman said she did not authorise the transfer. According to court documents, she was "not happy and was upset".
The customer service representative said they would investigate further.
Anderson was arrested on Friday evening at a residence in Theodore. Police searched her home in Gungahlin seizing brand name clothing, notes detailing money figures and amounts, and a page of writing with account details on it.
The defendant participated in a taped interview. Court documents say she stated "no comment", in answer to specific questions about her bank accounts and her involvement in the offences.
On Saturday, the court heard there was a flight risk for the woman, who had a flight booked to Los Angeles in December.
Magistrate Campbell remanded the woman in custody until Monday.
ActewAGL general manager retail Ayesha Razzaq said the company would not comment as the case was ongoing.
