Acacia Ridge detectives arrested and charged the 30-year-old over the alleged frauds, which stretched back at least two years.

They allege a 10-month investigation uncovered  “a protracted course of fraudulent conduct” involving hundreds of victims, some of whom were not aware they were victims of crime until notified by police.

They say the man also allegedly threatened victims of the frauds who attempted to take back their online identities after they had been hacked.

The man allegedly had identification information belonging to more than 160 people, including images of their driver licences, passports, birth certificates and Medicare cards.

Detective Senior Sergeant Justin Anderson said police seized numerous electronic devices during the execution of a search warrant at the man’s Pallara home in December 2021.

“Subsequent analysis of the devices revealed the extent of the alleged offending including copies of messages where threats to murder two victims were allegedly made and another victim allegedly threatened that their identification information would be published online if they did not pay money,” he said.

Police also seized devices allegedly containing more than 1,500 passwords associated with online identities which enabled access to not only victims’ social media accounts but also their bank accounts.

“After taking over victim’s accounts it will be alleged that online purchases for products, paid for from the victims’ accounts, were made, as well as fraudulently lodging tax returns in the names of 12 victims and connecting mobile phone accounts in the names of 46 people,” Anderson said.

“This extensive investigation involved liaison with interstate police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre as the alleged offender’s activities involved victims across numerous Australian states and territories including Western Australia, South Australia and Victoria,” he said.

The seized devices also allegedly contained evidence of drug offences including supplying dangerous drugs.

Anderson said that as more and more personal data is stored and accessed online, the community needed to be vigilant in terms of protecting their personal information and should regularly monitor their online accounts for any suspicious activity.

“Cybercrime has far-reaching impacts on individuals and the community at large. It causes significant angst to victims but there are support agencies available which can provide appropriate advice, such as IDCare,” he said.

“We are urging anyone who suspects they may be a victim of any sort of cybercrime to report it via the Australian Government’s ReportCyber website.”

The man was denied police bail and remanded in custody to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.