15 stories this week:
Anatomy of a hedge fund hack – 28 April 2021
The complexity of scams, and the time and money fraudsters are prepared to invest, highlights a growing threat to smaller financial services firms. Hedge funds and family offices do not spend anywhere near enough on cyber security, which is why they are targets.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/anatomy-of-a-hedge-fund-hack-20210428-p57n0s
(Access to AFR required to read this article.)
Criminality of Australia’s banking sector going unchecked – 30 April 2021
Dr Evan Jones, a retired political economist shares his opinion on how the financial sector is a natural haven for criminality and that most systematic white-collar crime of Australian banks against borrowers is still ignored by those in authority and by the media.
Whistleblowers are being scared into silence, hampering efforts to expose corruption in Australia, research finds – 30 April 2021
Major flaws with Australia’s whistleblowing protections are scaring whistleblowers into silence and hindering journalists’ efforts to expose corruption, according to jailed journalist Peter Greste and constitutional law scholar Rebecca Ananian-Welsh.
Shifting the focus on CCTV and women’s safety – 30 April 2021
Closed-circuit television cameras on trains and city streets are meant to reassure women that there not in danger – but women don’t always see them that way. Women and girls prefer the presence of security officers and guards to cameras. Until this changes, women will feel vulnerable when moving through public spaces, particularly at night.
Deepfake nudes change the face of cyber threats, revenge porn and scams – 30 April 2021
The rise of deepfake nude technology poses radical new threats to anyone who posts images and videos of themselves on the world’s most popular social media sites. As these tools became more accessible and improved, scammers would inevitably seize on the opportunity to extort bitcoin or money from a victim, by creating a deepfake nude of a victim and threatening to share it online.
Commission welcomes sentencing of children’s cancer charity founder for fraud and theft – 1 May 2021
Mr Nesbitt, the founder and director of a former children’s cancer charity, Little Heroes Cancer Trust, was sentenced to 20 months’ imprisonment after he was found guilty in March 2021. He stole £87,000 from the charity and transferred £181,000 into a bank account in his name between July 2014 and May 2015.
https://www.miragenews.com/commission-welcomes-sentencing-of-childrens-552715/
‘Heartbreaking’: Elderly couple loses $50k in 24 hour scams – 1 May 2021
The Australian Federal Police issued a search warrant in Wollongong, as part of a cybercrime investigation into an alleged fraudulent technical support business. Police allege the business – with a professional website, an Australian 1800 business number and used Microsoft logos – linked Australian victims to offshore scammers, who would request remote access to their computers.
https://www.qt.com.au/news/heartbreaking-elderly-couple-loses-50k-in-24-hour-/4249634/
In Indonesia, lab workers arrested, accused of reusing swabs in coronavirus tests – 2 May 2021
Five laboratory workers were arrested in the Indonesian city of Medan and accused of reusing nasal swabs in administering as many as 20,000 tests. They face up to six years in prison for violating consumer protection, medical waste and contagious disease laws.
Whistleblower Richard Boyle’s prosecution continues after he exposed the ATO’s unethical debt collection practices against small businesses – 3 May 2021
Boyle is facing life in prison for his role in exposing unethical debt collection practices inside the ATO. Boyle is relying on the public interest disclosure regime in his response to the alleged offences. 42 of the 66 charges have been dropped to date.
Criminals have already stolen over $100 million from blockchain projects in 2021 – 3 May 2021
Cryptocurrency wallets and exchange accounts have brought criminals around $108.3 million in the first quarter of 2021 – that’s 46% more than in Q1 2020. There were also nine blockchain wallet breaches reported, as well as one scam event and two blackmail cases, which saw victims lose roughly $19.3 million. Due to their nature, blockchain projects remain profitable targets to cybercriminals because fraudulent transactions cannot be reversed, as they may be in the traditional financial system.
New research reveals customer behaviour around fraud risks – 3 May 2021
The majority of efforts organisations make to educate customers about potential fraud risks are not working, according to new research from Callsign, the Fraud Protection and Authorisation company. The research suggests consumers want to make their own decisions around the risks they take, choosing to opt in or out of receiving fraud alerts, even ignoring them when they are delivered.
https://securitybrief.com.au/story/new-research-reveals-customer-behaviour-around-fraud-risks
Coaches must be held accountable: gymnastics whistleblowers speak out – 4 May 2021
A former gymnast hopes individual coaches are held accountable for their role in the abuse that has been rife in Australian gymnastics for decades, detailed in a troubling Australian Human Rights Commission report that was released on 3 May.
Australian Military Bank hit with a direct order – 4 May 2021
The financial intelligence regulator issued the Australian Military Bank, with an enforcement action designed to ensure the bank is compliant with anti-money laundering laws and stop it from being compromised by criminals.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/austrac-slugs-australian-military-bank-with-a-direct-order-20210503-p57ojx
(Access to AFR required to read this article.)
Corporate whistleblower policies falling short: ASIC – 4 May 2021
The corporate watchdog is urging companies to update their whistleblower protection policies, after finding many firms had not kept up with laws aimed at supporting staff who raise the alarm.
Scammers prey on Victorians amid scramble for rental properties – 5 May 2021
Victorians desperate to secure rental properties are being preyed upon by scammers posing as landlords on Facebook. Consumer Affairs Victoria recorded 31 reports of rental scams last financial year and said some scammers were showing renters properties they had no right to rent out. In other instances, people are asked to hand over rent and bonds for properties they have never inspected.
