A man has been extradited from Victoria and charged over his alleged involvement in an email scam valued at more than $600,000.
In August 2021, detectives from State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad were notified after a film production company had unknowingly transferred electronic funds into a fraudulent account.
Further inquiries under Strike Force Urban revealed the recipient’s account details had been sourced from a compromised email address containing altered banking details.
Following extensive inquiries, a 26-year-old Victorian man was arrested with the assistance of Victoria Police at a home in Fraser Rise about 7am Wednesday (6 April 2022).
Officers attached to the Australian Federal Police’s Cybercrime Southern Command then executed a search warrant at the address on behalf of NSW Police, seizing electronic devices for further forensic examination.
NSW Police subsequently applied for and were granted the man’s extradition to NSW at the Sunshine Magistrate’s Court later that day.
He was remanded in custody overnight, then escorted by detectives on a flight to Sydney and taken to Mascot Police Station where he was charged with recklessly deal with proceeds of indictable crime more than $100,000.
Police will allege in court the man fraudulently obtained $625,058 from the scam and spent more than $483,000 of the proceeds on gold bullion.
He was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court today (Friday 8 April 2022).
Cybercrime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft, said email scams can be particularly damaging for small businesses and aren’t always easy to detect.
“Scammers use sophisticated methods to obtain money from individuals and businesses and have taken advantage of the use of electronic accounting systems to commit their frauds,” Det Supt Craft said.
“I cannot remind people enough: ensure your accounts teams are vigilant when dealing with requests to vary account details or payment methods and scrutinise all email invoices closely.
“While this man is now before a court today, the damage has been done and a business remains significantly out of pocket from this alleged fraud.
“We work closely with our law enforcement counterparts at every level, so cybercriminals should be on notice that they will be held accountable for their crimes no matter which state or territory they are carried out,” Det Supt Craft said.
Reports of online fraud can be made to the Police Assistance Line on 131 444 or to local police.
