11 stories this week:
Full disclosure: The shake-up about to hit corporate Australia – 5 November 2022
This month, the federal government will release guidelines for companies on the use of controversial non-disclosure agreements in workplaces, following the expected legislation in federal parliament of the Respect at Work bill.
Access to digital version of SMH required to read article
Scammers are turning our most vulnerable into drug mules. Here’s how – 6 November 2022
18 alleged drug mules have been arrested, with some telling the Australian Federal Police (AFP) “they had been coerced into the role after they became victims of online financial scams.” The alleged drug mules are part of a larger trend in which international crime syndicates coerce scam victims into carrying drugs across border to recoup their debts.
California Man Extradited From Australia To Face Charges For Investment Scheme – 7 November 2022
It is alleged that Guzman, executed a scheme to defraud investors of at least $2 million, by falsely representing that he would use the investors’ money to trade in options and other similar investments. Instead it is alleged, he used the money to fund his personal lifestyle and to prevent his victims from redeeming their investments and complaining to authorities, the indictment alleges that Guzman lied to his victims about the status of their investments, and provided them with fake documents, including sham IRS forms and fraudulent account statements. He has been Extradited from Australia to face charges.
Automatic speaker recognition technology outperforms human listeners in courtroom – 8 November 2022
Article discusses research reviewing whether the services of real experts: specialist forensic scientists who employ empirically validated and demonstrably reliable forensic-voice-comparison systems are more reliable than human listeners.
https://www.miragenews.com/automatic-speaker-recognition-technology-890422/
Who Is Extorting Australian Health Insurer Medibank? – 8 November 2022
Medibank publicly said it wouldn’t pay a ransom to attackers who it says took sensitive data of 9.7 million current and former customers. Some cybercrime researchers have dubbed the extorntion group “BlogXX”. BlogXX’s website contains links to the infamous REvil ransomware gang, which attacked the software developer Kaseya in July 2021 and JBS Foods in May 2021. Both incidents had big knock-on effects within Australia.
https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/blogs/who-extorting-australian-health-insurer-medibank-p-3310
‘Putin’s chef’ and Wagner group mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin admits meddling in US elections – 8 November 2022
Kremlin-connected entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted that he has interfered in US elections and would continue to do so, confirming for the first time the accusations he has rejected for years. Mr Prigozhin has been sanctioned by the United States, the UK and the European Union.
ASIC Warns Against Fake IPO Investment Frauds – 9 November 2022
ASIC issued a warning regarding the increased number of fake initial public offering (IPO) investment scams targeting consumers and individual investors. Scammers are impersonating licensed Australian firms and promoting fake offerings. Recently, investors were offered the opportunity to invest in Porsche’s IPO. The fake offers overlapped with the actual listings and led to a loss of funds. ASIC stated that after transferring money to scammers, it is no longer able to help consumers.
https://www.financemagnates.com/forex/asic-warns-against-fake-ipo-investment-frauds/
Scam losses could hit $4b this year. Should banks wear the cost – 9 November 2022
Australians lost an estimated $2 billion to scams last year, and the government says losses could well double to $4 billion this year. One idea that’s been raised is whether banks should shoulder more of the cost of reimbursing scam victims, thereby giving banks an incentive to improve their defences against scam.
Greek Australian Family robbed out of $40,0000 following massive telecoms hack – 9 November 2022
A Greek Australian family appears to have fallen victim to identity theft following the recent Optus telecoms hack which saw thousands of customer data breached, resulting in them losing some $40,000. Jimmy Marinis and Mary-Jane Daffy said they believed identity thieves “piggy backed” off the Optus hack and gained access to their bank accounts, emptying out their credit cards along the way.
https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/11/08/greek-australian-family-robbed/
Gold Coast Pensioner’s big bank win after scam fallout – 5 November 2022
A mistake of paying $5 for a supposed unpaid toll in after receiving a scam text message, resulted in Queenslanders loosing $10000 in the Linkt phishing scam.
Worker surveillance tech is outpacing outdated NSW laws – 10 November 2022
The newly published second and final report of the Select Committee on the Impact of Technological and Other Change on the Future of Work and Workers in NSW, which was briefed in March 2020 and published its first report in April, made 13 recommendations to overhaul workplace surveillance and automation legislation that was originally published in 2005. The changes are desperately required due the development of smartphones, high-speed wireless networking, connected security cameras, AI-driven employee monitoring, and other technologies.
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2022/worker-surveillance-tech-is-outpacing-outdated-nsw-laws.html
Man arrested for $130,000 Centrelink fraud: ‘Scumbag – 10 November 2022
A Taiwanese national was arrested in Sydney after allegedly stealing more than $130,000 in COVID-19 support payments from Centrelink. The fraudsters are believed to have posed as an accounting agency on a messaging app and offered to submit claims on behalf of people who needed to access the payments, in exchange for their details and a fee. The man is also alleged to have stolen several identities and claimed payments in their names.
