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Perth detectives believe they have busted a major cyber crime ring which allegedly defrauded victims of more than $350,000 before going on a shopping spree.
Four men from the city’s northern suburbs now face dozens of charges following a year-long investigation into a “sophisticated SMS phishing scam” that police say was organized in Washington.
WATCH VIDEO ABOVE: Midland detectives charge four in alleged text fraud.
Victims were sent text messages purporting to be from their bank before handing over online logins, credit card details and passwords, authorities said.
Police say the alleged operation was a lucrative one, with more than $350,000 in stolen funds spent via Apple Pay at several stores in a two-week period from July 28, 2023.
One of the four accused was escorted by Midland detectives and their federal colleagues through a terminal at Perth Airport after arriving on a flight from Sydney.
The Australian Federal Police-led Joint Police Cybercrime Coordination Center began working with WA authorities after learning that several bank customers had fallen victim to a costly text message scam.
Properties across the state were raided between July and October 2024. and four alleged union members from Kallaroo, Banksia Grove, Sinagra and Morley were detained.
Between them, the men face 75 charges, including almost 50 for benefiting by fraud.
They are due in court in December and January.
Midland detectives say the investigation is ongoing.
Australians reported $2.74 billion in fraud losses in 2023, with text messages the preferred method of contact for fraudsters.
“You can randomly generate phone numbers, and if you get a hit rate of just one or two answers, you might be able to make a few thousand dollars in profit.”
Of the money stolen from Australians in 2023, $137.4 million was siphoned through phishing scams.
Phishing messages often spoof the phone number and sender ID of legitimate businesses – including banks – and sound pushy in an attempt to “get you to act”.
“Spoof messages can even appear in the same message chain as genuine messages from the organization, making them even more difficult to spot,” says ScamWatch.
The advice is to avoid clicking on links in messages and instead search the website yourself or use the organization’s app or online portal.
Never reply to a text message using the phone number provided and call the organization back at a phone number you looked up on your own through their website or phone book.
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