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The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has caught and charged a man allegedly responsible for laundering money on behalf of cyber criminals targeting Australian businesses.
The now 23-year-old man was arrested and charged with allegedly laundering $176,192 that he received from cyber criminals running threat campaigns of business email compromise (BEC) fraud.
The arrested man allegedly laundered the funds across a number of accounts before then transferring them to another person.
The AFP Joint Policing Cybercrime Coordination Centre (JPC3) was behind the arrest and charge, as part of Operation Dolos-EMMA8, which was launched in August 2022 following the AFP being notified of unusual financial transactions by an Australian bank.
The AFP believes the man was acting as a money mule, an individual who is responsible for transferring illegally acquired funds from a third-party account to another.
A search warrant for the man was executed by the AFP in November 2022, leading them to launch a search of his home in Footscray, Melbourne, where it collected several electronic devices and a small portion of illicit drugs.
Using the evidence collected, the man was then arrested on 13 July 2023.
The man now faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the financial charges, while the drugs could result in a maximum penalty of 12 months imprisonment.
As per the AFP report, he was charged with:
Operation Dolos was first established by the AFP in January 2020 with the goal of targeting business email compromise threats. So far, it has prevented over $45 million in funds being stolen by cyber criminals.
“Business email compromise has become a particularly prominent cyber threat, which is why the AFP, through Operation Dolos, remains focused on protecting Australians who are being targeted in these attacks,” said AFP Senior Constable Khali Sherer.
“In 2021–2022, Australians reported losses of more than $98 million to business email compromise attacks, with an average loss of $64,000 per reported incident.
“If you think an email is suspicious, make further enquiries. Call and check directly with the business or organisation you are dealing with. It is reasonable to ask questions to protect yourself or your company.”
Operation Dolos is run by state and territory police, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, AUSTRAC, JPC3 and the financial sector.
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