A man will appear in court today after being charged by Cybercrime Squad detectives for his alleged role in moving millions of dollars which were allegedly fraudulently obtained.
Strike Force Downstream was established by State Crime Command's Cybercrime Squad – with the Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) – into a criminal syndicate allegedly involved in moving approximately $3 million of fraudulent money by purchasing untraceable commodities such as gold bullion and jewellery.
Detectives identified some of the fraudulent funds being moved by the group were alleged to be proceeds of Business Email Compromises (BEC) – which is when an offender gains access to a corporate email account to impersonate the real owner and defraud the company, its customers, partners and employees.
Strike force detectives have charged five people for their alleged roles in the fraud. All five remain before the courts.
On Thursday 13 June 2024, strike force detectives, with assistance from State Crime Command's Raptor Squad, executed a search warrant on a Greenacre home.
During the search detectives located and seized multiple phones, other electronic devices and prohibited drugs.
Detectives arrested a 44-year-old man at the scene. He was taken to Bankstown Hospital for precautionary reasons before being taken to Bankstown Police Station the following day (Friday 14 June 2024).
The 44-year-old was charged with recklessly deal proceeds of general crime $100000 or more, participate criminal group contribute criminal activity and possess prohibited drug.
He was granted strict conditional bail to appear before Bankstown Local Court today (Thursday 4 July 2024).
Commander of State Crime Command's Cybercrime Squad Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft said this is a reminder that the public needs to remain vigilant with their online safety.
"A lot of cyber criminals take advantage of vulnerable Australians who aren't familiar with online safety.
"Activating two factor authentication on as many accounts and systems as possible may be the difference between becoming a victim of a scam and preventing one." Det Supt Craft said.
"All businesses should strive to educate their staff on what to look for in order to avoid BEC scams.
"This means rigorously verifying payment requests and challenging changes to payments schedules and payment types.
"If you feel that something isn't right, notify police. You may just help us stop more people being scammed."
Investigations under Strike Force Downstream continue.
Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
