GETTY/AFP Anis Amri funded the brutal attack by collecting welfare benefits from various German cities

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Despite being shot dead in Italy just days after the attack, the Tunisian refugee is now under investigation for fraud after conning German authorities into handing over cash to fund his terror exploits. After travelling from Tunisia to Europe in 2011, he used up to eight different aliases and several different nationalities - at times even claiming to be from Egypt or Lebanon.

Reports claim Amri carried several different false identity documents and used aliases to collect welfare in cities across Germany. Authorities also found Amri had used the internet to try and find a way of contacting Daesh, as well as looking up instructions on how to build bombs. Reports suggest Amri was known to German authorities months before he carried out the devastating attacks but they failed to act in time.

AFP Pictures of Anis Amri show is constantly changing appearance

BERLIN TERROR: 'TWELVE' dead as truck crashed into crowd at Christmas market Tue, December 20, 2016 A truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing at least 12 and injuring 48 Play slideshow REUTERS•AFP 1 of 21 A truck crashed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing at least 12 and injuring 48

Although considered a potential threat, he was labeled ‘unlikely’ to carry out a terror attack by counter-terrorism officers on at least two occasions. Welfare fraud was key to funding terror attacks in Brussels in March and in Paris last year. Terrorists collected around £45,000 in benefits which they used to pay for the brutal attacks in the major European cities.

GETTY Anti-terror police were deployed at the market in the days following the incident