The personal information of 15,000 eBay sellers could be turned over to Centrelink as part of a mass national crackdown on welfare fraud.

Australian users of the site that have sold more than $20,000 of goods via the auction site in one year have been put on notice as part of the investigation.

Centrelink says this is part of a crackdown on people who receive welfare benefits whilst making large chunks of undeclared profit via the site.

“Online trading creates an opportunity for people to earn income and, in some instances, we believe people may not be declaring that income,” said Hank Jongen, head of Centrelink, to the ABC last week.

Ebay is said to be co-operating with the government’s request for it to turn over information, such as contact name and user ID, email and IP address, company business number and ABN, bank account details, and monthly sales data.

A company spokesperson for eBay said disclosure of this information is in accordance with the auction site’s privacy policy.

Members will be notified when or if information is sent to the ATO and Department of Human Resources.