13 stories this week:
Fake Australian Federal Police money scam targeting West Australians – 26 August 2021
The Australian Federal Police issued the alert of scammers falsely identifying themselves as Federal Agents and telling victims, they had identified suspicious activity linked to their bank accounts. They then requested personal details including a Medicare number, address and bank details.
https://thewest.com.au/news/crime/fake-australian-federal-police-money-scam-targeting-west-australians-ng-b881981027z
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9928203/Australians-flooded-fraudulent-phone-calls-fake-AFP-officers-demanding-payment.html
Pyramid scheme-style ‘investment app’ scamming most vulnerable during COVID pandemic – 26 August 2021
Investment Apps are the modern version of pyramid schemes to scam people. The first people to sign up make money, so they encourage others to join. They are often run by overseas groups making recovery of the money difficult.
Most common scam calls and how to prevent them – 27 August 2021
Thanks to COVID, lockdowns and working from home, increased virtual presence has created fertile ground for online fraudsters and identity thieves. There have been 214 million scam calls blocked since rules requiring telcos to detect, trace and block the nuisance calls were introduced in December last year.
$25 million crypto scam hits Australians – 27 August 2021
In the first six months this year, Australians have lost A$70million ($50.5 million) from fraudulent investments, of which half was from crypto scams. Scammers lure investors is by using fake trading platforms with celebrity endorsements and the attractive bait of “high earnings.”
https://micky.com.au/25-million-crypto-scam-hits-australians/
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/arisecoin-fraud-scheme-jared-rice-sentenced-4-million-doj-crypto-2021-8
Pump and dump ‘manipulation’ plagues cryptocurrency markets – 30 August 2021
Free brokerage, lockdown boredom, and social trading had increased the success of pump-and-dump schemes on the stock market. A pump-and-dump scam, typically involves inside groups of manipulators, taking positions in an altcoin or digital token, prior to a pump signal to buy the asset, in a coordinated manner for social media users. The dump involves a pre-planned crash – colloquially known as a “rugging” or rug pull.
Fixing Freedom Foods cost $28m, with more to come – 30 August 2021
Freedom Foods remains under investigation by the corporate regulator over allegations that it breached continuous disclosure and financial reporting obligations. The company expects legal costs to continue; it is facing US arbitration from key supplier Blue Diamond Growers over a licensing agreement, which could end in more large costs. Freedom Foods is also facing two investor class action claims, and is being sued by its former group general counsel and company secretary.
Victorian woman fleeced $10,000 from ‘harrowing’ phone scam – 31 August 2021
A Victorian woman has been fleeced of $10,000 following an elaborate mobile phone scam. The retired university lecturer was tricked into believing she was part of a $2 million sting, being threatened with a fake warrant and ordered to drive to her local bank to withdraw cash and go to the post office.
Adelaide Brighton Cement accounts manager found guilty of multi-million-dollar deception – 30 August 2021
A former Adelaide Brighton Cement manager has been found guilty of deceiving the company out of millions of dollars to benefit one of its customers. Ms Burgess hid Concrete Supply’s debts from her own employer, increased their credit limits and had created several large manual entries benefiting the customer ‘Concrete Supply’.
ASIC new enforcement approach more targeted and proportionate – 31 August 2021
Last week, ASIC published its corporate plan which said it would continue as an active litigator against misconduct, but that litigation would be reserved for cases involving the most substantial harm to market integrity, investors and consumers. Hill and Wilcox lawyers said this new approach will allow for more balance in responding to technical or inadvertent contraventions, where the entity concerned had promptly remediated any persons impacted.
Backlash as new iPhone update will cause devices to ‘spy’ on owners – 31 August 2021
Apple is launching a new surveillance system on more than one billion active iPhones, iPads and Macs. Under the new design, your phone will now perform these searches on Apple’s behalf before your photos have even reached their iCloud servers, and … if enough ‘forbidden content’ is discovered, law-enforcement will be notified.
Govt: it’s time to regulate cryptocurrency – 31 August 2021
Cryptocurrency could benefit the Australian economy “to the tens of billions”. The government is looking closely at regulations affecting cryptocurrency as it considers how to handle digital assets and encourage innovation in the broader blockchain ecosystem.
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2021/govt–it-s-time-to-regulate-cryptocurrency.html
‘AntiVaxMomma’ accused of selling fake vaccination cards – 1 September 2021
A New Jersey woman has sold several hundred fake COVID-19 vaccination cards at $US200 ($273) each. For an extra $US250, a second scammer would then enter a bogus card buyer’s name into a New York state vaccination database, which feeds systems used to verify vaccine status at places they’re required, such as concerts and sporting events.
Australian policymakers demand answers from Lex Greensill – 1 September 2021
Lex Greensill from Greensill Capital has been sent a list of questions from a parliamentary committee seeking more information on supply chain finance schemes. Committee members want to know more about what products he marketed to the Australian government and whether any Australian entities were involved in his “future receivables” financing programs.
