Armidale woman charged in connection to email scam by State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad

The 29-year-old woman was arrested in Muswellbrook this week by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Cybercrime Squad.

She’s facing once count of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime and has been granted bail to front Armidale Local Court in July.

The woman was one of two arrested by Strike Force Cabernet which was set-up to investigate organised criminal groups committing large scale business email compromises.

A 29-year-old man was arrested in Newtown earlier this month and is facing two counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime. He’s been granted bail.

Strike force officers launched an investigation after two referrals from the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network (ACORN). The referrals related to fraudulent emails from company directors requesting payment of invoices or other fees.

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The first report stated the company’s finance department received an email from a person purporting to be the company’s Managing Director requesting payment of an invoice for more than $50,000, which was subsequently paid.

Police will allege the account was accessed twice, with a total of $10,000 withdrawn, before it was frozen by the financial institution.

The second report stated an employee received an email from a person purporting to be the company’s director, requesting a payment of more than $14,000 for professional fees, which was subsequently paid.

Police will allege the account was accessed the following day, with a total of $14,000 withdrawn and transferred into an account at another financial institution.

Investigations under Strike Force Cabernet are continuing, police said.

Cybercrime Squad Commander Detective Acting Superintendent Matt Craft urged the business community to be vigilant because business email compromises are becoming more prevalent.

“Business email compromise scams generally target companies who pay accounts electronically, which is common practice with modern electronic accounting systems,” Detective Craft said.

“While there are many variables, generally, the perpetrators will ‘spoof’ or compromise corporate executive or employee email accounts and send email requests to an accounts payable employee for an electronic funds transfer.

“It is imperative for all businesses to develop systems to combat against business email compromises, which includes carefully scrutinizing email requests for the transfer of funds and the development of standard procedures for accounting staff to follow to protect against business email compromises.

“Staff should be suspicious about requests to change account details or complete electronic transfers and take the time to verify the authenticity of the email, whether it be via phone or a fresh email.”

Detective Craft urged businesses to review internal practices and speak to staff.

“The cybercrime squad will continue to target those people who engage in this conduct and benefit from the proceeds,” he said.