Police Warn of ‘Blessing Scam’ Targeting Elderly Chinese Women
New South Wales police and Scamwatch are warning of a fraud scheme which primarily targets elderly Chinese women, claiming they and their families are at risk from evil spirits before offering to ‘bless’ them in exchange for money or luxury...
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Fraud in Australia
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Australia has been a beacon of hope for individuals with disabilities, providing them with support and services to enhance their quality of life and independence. However, amid the scheme’s noble intentions, a darker...
Fraud Offences in Australia
The term fraud generally refers to conduct whereby a person or company gains a benefit for themselves or causes a detriment to another person or company through conduct that is dishonest and/or deceptive. In the context of the Australian criminal...
Fraud Enabled by MyGov ‘Security Gap’ Costs Australian Taxpayers $500 Million
The Federal Government’s PR department has gone into overdrive this week, boasting about how it is drafting National Digital Identification legislation which it claims will safely and securely use the personal data of millions of Australians to streamline access to...
Psychic Scams Can Constitute the Criminal Offence of Fraud
ScamWatch, a division of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has announced that ‘psychic scams’ are on the rise, with a reported $555,240 extorted from Australians in 2022. Individuals purporting to be psychics or clairvoyants will often prey on...
The Offence of Fraud: Companies Generate Billions Without Criminal Consequences
This is the first in a series of 3 articles on the criminal offence of fraud. This article will focus on the history of fraud, and outline the conduct of those who engaged in the offence in what is arguably the...
Social Media Influencers Under Investigation for Fraud
Australia’s securities regulator, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, or ASIC, is investigating more than 100 ‘influential’ social media accounts over reports of misleading and false advertising that has cost those who buy in millions, and could amount to the...
The “Hi Mum” Scam and the Offence of Fraud
A 21-year-old Victorian man has been charged with five counts of obtaining property by deception for fraudulent transactions linked to the increasing popular “Hi Mum” scam. But what is the “Hi Mum” scam? How does it fit into the legal...
Police Claim to Have Identified Medibank Cyber-Criminals
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) claims to have identified the group responsible for the Medibank cyber-attack and subsequent data leaks to the dark web, and is promising the suspects will face the full force of the law. But this is cold...
Millions at Risk of Identity Theft Due to Optus Data Breach
Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin announced last week that users of the company’s services dating back to 2017 should exercise ‘heightened vigilance’ to protect their identities, after ‘sophisticated criminals’ whose motives are unknown breached the company’s security systems to...
