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Investigation & Fraud News – Week ending 25 November 2022
12 stories this week:
Aussie father reveals how scammers outsmarted him and his bank – 16 November 2022
New South Wales Police believe scammers are getting smarter and consumers need to be wary. An Aussie father had $27,380 taken out of his account. The scammers not only outsmarted him, but also his bank.
Origin issues warning for 4.2 million customers – 16 November 2022
Origin is warning customers about a new SMS scam that tries to steal their payment details. The scam text message tells customers they have an unpaid account and directs them to a fake Origin website. From here, the customer is asked to enter their Origin details and payment information.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/origin-issues-warning-for-42-million-customers-020022895.html
ClubsNSW litigation against dying whistleblower an ‘abuse of process’, lawyers say – 16 November 2022
Whistleblower Troy Stolz will ask the Federal Court that contempt proceedings brought against him by ClubsNSW to be permanently stayed. ClubsNSW said an interview he gave to YouTuber Friendlyjordies breached a court order. Stolz’s lawyers are expected to argue that material has come to light showing ClubsNSW is bringing its contempt action to intimidate him.
Elizabeth Holmes sentenced to 11 years in prison on fraud charges – 19 November 2022
Elizabeth Holmes, the former CEO and founder of Theranos, has been sentenced to just over 11 years in prison for defrauding the investors of her blood testing startup. The sentence comes almost a year after Holmes was found guilty on four counts of fraud following a months-long trial.
https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/elizabeth-holmes-theranos-fraud-sentence-221816950.html
Bunnings, Kmart issue urgent warning over new scam – 19 November 2022
Australian job seekers are being warned about a new employment scam circulating on social media, offering jobs at Bunnings and Kmart. The fake Bunnings job ads use the retailer’s official logo and lure unsuspecting job seekers with an hourly rate ranging from $48 to $75 to gain peoples personal details.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/bunnings-kmart-issue-urgent-warning-over-new-scam-015246675.html
Christian Dior has held Caddick funds for years, whistleblower tells authorities – 19 November 2022
A whistleblower from Christian Dior has alerted authorities to hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen by missing fraudster Melissa Caddick, that have been held for the past two years at the fashion house’s Sydney office.
Access to digital version of SMH required
How fraudsters used Porsche IPO to target Australians – 20 November 2022
Article outline details about the claims of Fraudulent Porsche IPO offerings and BN Capital, pretending to be a financial services entity. The fraud includes highly professional websites, investment documents and correspondence and claims the banks are not doing enough to protect customers.
Coal exporters accused of falsifying data to prove coal is cleaner, boost profits – 21 November 2022
Leaked details provided by a whistlwhistleblower, claim Australian coal exporters are falsifying data to show their coal is cleaner. MP Andrew Wilkie said “the alleged scam has allowed companies to claim for years that Australian coal was cleaner than it was in reality in order to boost profits and to prevent rejection of shipments at their destinations”.
High-flying first Chinese executive at PwC Australia is accused of $3.3million fraud to buy a Porsche and pay for renovations to the six bedroom mansion she shares with her husband – 22 November 2022
Shao Hong, a high-flying audit assurance partner at PwC Australia and her husband Di Wu are accused of stealing $3.3million from Creative Promotions, a family-owned business. It is alleged they stole millions from them between 2010 and 2022 by ‘digitally altering’ genuine invoices and creating other fake invoices. They allegedly spent the money building dream home in Sydney’s north shore. The Couple’s assets have been frozen as they face legal action to recover cash.
Reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley sentenced to combined 19 years in prison for bank fraud, tax evasion – 22 November 2022
Reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley received sentences for their convictions on charges of bank fraud and tax evasion. In June, the couple were convicted of having inflated their net worth in order to secure more than $30 million in fraudulent loans. They were also found to have dodged their taxes since as early as 2009 and to have hidden their earnings.
HashFlare’s Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin charged over four-year cryptocurrency pyramid scheme – 22 November 2022
Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. It is alleged that they operated a pyramid scheme and bought luxury cars and real estate with the fraudulent $870 million.
How and why Australian whistleblowing laws need an overhaul: new report – 23 November 2022
Recent developments in Australian whistleblowing cases and the parliamentary debate over Australia’s new National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), have shown how critical it is to get our whistleblower protection laws back up to world standards. A new research report, published by Griffith University, the Human Rights Law Centre and Transparency International Australia, seeks to present a clear roadmap for getting these reforms right.
Investigation & Fraud News – Week ending 18 November 2022
12 stories this week:
Anti-corruption watchdog report ‘unanimous’ but crossbenchers signal whistleblower, public hearings fight ahead – 11 November 2022
Australia has inched closer to having a federal anti-corruption watchdog after a multi-partisan committee scrutinising the proposal handed down a unanimous report in support of it.
Subscription required to access article.
Pilot accused of illegally chartering flights told wife ‘it’s only money, no one’s been run over’ – 11 November 2022
Josh Hoch, a pilot has appeared in court accused of chartering flights for Katter’s Australia Party members without a certificate to fly commercially. He has pleaded not guilty to 14 charges.
Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil flags multiple reforms to protect personal data after Medibank data leaks – 13 November 2022
The Federal Government is considering making it illegal to pay ransoms. Tighter regulation could also extend to data retention, something Cyber Security MinisterClare O’Neil described as a “national vulnerability’. Data retention forms part of a review of the Privacy Act currently being undertaken by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-13/medibank-data-breach-cybersecurity-latest/101648178
The whistleblower tapes exposing racism in Queensland’s police force – 13 November 2022
Audio recordings leaked to Guardian Australia, by a whistleblower reveal several officers and sworn police using racist and offensive language, while working in a Brisbane watch house. The audio, condemned by Queensland police and the state government, follows evidence at the state inquiry into police responses to domestic and family violence, which included dozens of examples of racist, misogynistic and sexist behaviour.
US prosecutors seek 15 years in prison for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes – 13 November 2022
US prosecutors have recommended Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes spend 15 years in prison and pay $US800 million ($A1.1 billion) to investors defrauded by her blood testing start-up. The company claimed to be able to run many tests on one drop of blood. It collapsed in 2015 after a series of articles suggesting its devices were flawed.
Wannabe rapper confronted over $700k worth of missing gold – 13 November 2022
Abdel Ghadia, found $760,000 in his bank account – and bought gold bars and coins before police arrested him last year. It seems that a mortage brokers email was comprised and a couple purchasing a house where told to transfer into Abdels bank account. Police arrested Ghadia as part of a major crackdown on a ruthless cybercrime syndicate. However, court documents revealed there is no indication Ghadia was involved in the money transfer and the $700,000 worth of gold the rapper bought, has not been recovered.
https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/rapper-confronted-over-700-000-dollars-worth-of-missing-gold/94265019-e811-4f2c-9cdc-0658e9aedfdb
NEWS: Australia is ‘economically vulnerable’ to dirty money says FinCrime expert – 15 November 2022
A financial crime expert has warned that Australia is “economically vulnerable” to money laundering. Nathan Lynch, author of the Lucky Laundry explained that the country’s role as a “major international hub” for laundering dirty money has developed due to Australia’s dependence on foreign funding.
https://www.amlintelligence.com/2022/11/news-australia-is-economically-vulnerable-to-dirty-money/
Subscription to AML required to read full article
Two men who conspired to manipulate recruitment processes at Department of Finance avoid jail – 15 November 2022
Abdul ‘Alex’ El-Debel and Raminder Kahlon were found guilty of conspiring with a third man to dishonestly obtain a benefit from the Commonwealth, by putting forward candidates from companies with which they were associated. They will rve intensive corrections orders for three and a half years, and will also have to complete 300 hours of community service.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-15/finance-public-servant-businessman-spared-jail-fraud-conspiracy/101654260
Inside a scam: How cybercriminals are shaping Australia’s digital future – 15 November 2022
Cybercrime is the new face of organised crime – except in the online world, you can’t see the crooks. The hackers hide behind their keyboards and phones, wreaking havoc from every corner of the globe. Debroah night, has created the Pod Cast Anatomy of a Scam, were she breaks down some of the more common scams doing the rounds and explore the technology and psychology used by the cyber-crooks.
Government boosts whistleblower laws – 16 November 2022
Whistleblowers in Australia will be afforded stronger protections under new government legislation set to hit parliament. It means Australia will have stronger whistleblower protections in place before the National Anti-Corruption Commission gets going, which is expected from the middle of 2023.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/government-boosts-whistleblower-laws-231717027.html
Jim Marinis and Mary-Jane Daffy lose $40,000 and rack up over $20,000 debt in banking scam saga – 16 November 2022
Jim Marinis and Mary-Jane Daffy, a couple who are small business owners in Melbourne, have lost $40,000 from suspected fraudulent bank transactions, after their personal data was stolen. The cyber criminals also racked up $20,000 debt in personal loans taken out online in their name and applied for a $200,000 loan. The Melbourne based criminals are quite experienced and created a spider’s net so extensive, as they hacked Mr Marini’s personal accounts one after the other including his MyGov account.
Email invoice scam targets Victorian farmers, with ‘insane’ amounts of money lost to criminals – 18 November 2022
Scammers have been targeting Victorian farmers with fake invoices that appear to be from regular suppliers. The scammers are including dodgy phone numbers too and it often goes to someone who speaks perfect English.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-18/email-invoice-scam-targets-farmers-victoria-hackers/101659502
Investigation & Fraud News – Week ending 11 November 2022
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.
Investigation & Fraud News – Week ending 4 November 2022
11 stories this week:
Pathology lab, ACL, criticised for five-month delay in reporting patient data hack – 28 October 2022
Australian Clinical Labs (ACL) has been criticised for waiting five months to inform patients their data had been stolen and leaked onto the dark web. This meant criminals could have accessed the stolen data to commit acts like identity theft, financial scams via impersonation for months.
How Facebook scammers hijacked the Herald brand – 31 October 2022
The Sydney Morning Herald’s website layout and branding have been replicated by criminals to spread fake articles on Facebook and dupe people into investing in fraudulent financial schemes.
Trump Organization’s criminal tax fraud trial begins in New York – 1 November 2022
The criminal trial for the Trump Organisation has begun in New York with the prosecution and defence giving their opening statements. Donald Trump’s company was charged with tax fraud in July 2021, over allegations it helped executives cheat their own taxes.
Former Olympian Neil Brooks and wife ‘very confident’ fraud charges against them will be dropped – 2 November 2022
It is alleged that in 2008 Mr and Ms Brooks made dishonest representations about the success of their sports merchandise business, in order to induce two investors to purchase a 50 per cent stake in the company. They believe they will be cleared of these charges in court.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-02/neil-brooks-linda-wife-fraud-charges-court/101607786
Corruption claims fly in NAB fraud trial – 2 November 2022
A court has heard that 1.2 million dollars of corrupt payments and altered invoices between 2013 and 2017, were all part of an Helen Mary Rosamond’s plan to reward a NAB senior staffer and lock in extended business contracts with the bank.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/corruption-claims-fly-nab-fraud-025047935.html
Financial watchdog launches investigation into Sportsbet and Bet365 over money laundering suspicions – 3 November 2022
Austrac has launched an investigation into gambling companies Sportsbet and Bet365, on suspicions they have failed to comply with anti-money laundering laws. External auditors will be appointed to investigate the suspected non-compliance.
Queensland couple make horror $860,000 mistake – 3 November 2022
A family has lost $860,000 after being strung along for months by an elaborate syndicate of scammers. Coins Markets, or Coinsmarkets.io, taught them how to buy stocks and trade. The company had a sophisticated website complete with a complex login portal and multiple positive ratings across different review sites. Everything appeared to be legitimate until they were asked to place aggressive trades.
Millions forfeited after investigation into fraudulent scheme – 3 November 2022
New Zealand Police has successfully petitioned the High Court for the forfeiture of more than $2 million under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act, following an investigation into funds held in New Zealand by a Malaysian national. An investigation determined it to be related to a fraudulent scheme run in Malaysia – the VenusFX scheme.
https://www.miragenews.com/millions-forfeited-after-investigation-into-887768/
Dreyfus faces international pressure over whistleblowers – 4 November 2022
International transparency groups are pushing Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to drop two high-profile whistleblower prosecutions (former Tax Office employee Richard Boyle and former military lawyer David McBride), and have called for better protections for people speaking up against wrongdoing.
Company directors scrambling to get ID or face $13,000 fine in bid to stop ‘dummy directors’ – 4 November 2022
It will be mandatory for all company directors covered by the Corporations Act to have a unique ID number by end of November. The Directors Identification Numbers are being introduced in a bid to crack down on so-called “dummy directors” and company “phoenixing” by allowing authorities to track activities through various government databases.
Cybercrime reports jump as criminal gangs target families and businesses, cybersecurity agency says – 4 November 2022
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) has launched its third annual threat report, revealing that it received over 76,000 cybercrime reports last financial year – a 13 per cent increase from the year before. Criminal gangs are weaponising sensitive stolen data at a greater scale.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-04/cyber-crime-reports-jump-acsc/101612978
