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This young woman scammed MILLIONS of unsuspecting Aussies with a ‘clever’ email trap
The internet is an amazing tool that allows us to connect with others in ways we never could before, but unfortunately, it's also a prime target for scammers.
More often than not, we think of scammers as being some lone prodigal with a dastardly plan, but the reality is far more insidious – they're often organised crime rings operating across borders, finding new and ingenious ways to cheat honest people out of their hard-earned money.
According to reports out of Victoria, one young woman was able to exploit the very same technology that many of us happily use daily, forming an elaborate email scam and swindling more than $3.2 million from innocent, hard-working Australians.
Jasmine Vella-Arpaci, a 24-year-old hairdresser from Melbourne, was recently sentenced to nearly six years in prison for her role as a central part of the fraudulent and sophisticated criminal scheme, which targeted superannuation and share trading accounts.
A young woman was arrested for being a major part of a fraudulent scheme targeting older Aussies. Credit: Unsplash/Hack Capital.
Aside from attempting to steal close to $1.8 million out of super funds and up to $5.7 million in shares, the scam successfully managed to defraud a total of $3.238 million.
The stolen funds were then promptly deposited into newly opened bank accounts, while fake debit cards were sent to false addresses in Hong Kong with the plan to launder $2.5 million.
Jasmine’s mission included setting up a sophisticated phishing scam to access login details, as well as targeting admin, HR and bookkeeper usernames in the hopes of infiltrating superannuation and identification documents.
Judge Fiona Todd, who announced the sentence recently, noted that the young woman's 'phishing' scheme was 'effortful and sophisticated'.
Credit: 7NEWS Australia.
Upon her arrest in 2019, Jasmine, who attended Rosehill Secondary College in Melbourne, confessed to some of the crimes, but denied others.
It was later revealed that the crime spree began when Jasmine was living with her now-imprisoned husband, who had an intense gambling addiction that she was helping support financially.
The judge noted that at the time of her sentencing, Jasmine had become a frequent user of drugs such as Valium, Xanax, and benzodiazepine ('benzos') and was believed to take up to 10 pills per day in order to deal with her anxiety.
Although the victims' names remain suppressed, the court heard that there were senior Australians among the aggrieved.
The sentence was dealt with a heavy heart and a teary eye by the thief's friends and family, who were present in court throughout the proceedings.
On the other side of the story, the Australian Tax Office's Deputy Commissioner and Chief of the Serious Financial Crimes Task Force, John Ford, praised the sentence as a warning to anyone who tries to 'cheat the system', stressing that they really have 'nowhere to hide'.
If you have any suspicions about a process or email you receive, don't hesitate to reach out to the customer service representative of the company in question. You can also head over to the Scam Watch forum on the website for up-to-date information on scams these days.
Let us know what you think about this in the comments section!
