A 19-year-old Sydney bloke has been arrested and charged over allegedly sending scam texts to Optus customers whose info was leaked in the big ‘ol data breach.
The Australian Federal Police arrested him on Thursday, and he’s been charged with both using a telecommunication network with the intent to commit a serious offence and dealing with identification information.
A mobile phone allegedly connected to the texts was seized after police executed a search warrant at a Rockdale home.
He’ll face Sydney Central Local Court later this year.
The AFP will allege the man accessed data shared online in the Optus hack and sent texts to around 93 Optus customers whose info was leaked — those messages demanded customers deposit $2000 into a bank account, or else their leaked info could be used in financial crimes.
It’s believed none of the customers paid the $2000.
Police still haven’t found whoever was behind the actual Optus data breach.
According to Assistant Commissioner of Cyber Command Justine Gough, the arrested man allegedly tried to benefit from stolen data.
“Last week, the AFP and our state and territory partners launched Operation Guardian to protect the most vulnerable customers affected by the Optus breach and we were absolutely clear that there would be no tolerance for the criminal use of this stolen data,’ she said.
Gough also said that she expected there to be more arrests in connection with the leak.
“The AFP, our state partners and industry are relentlessly scouring forums and other online sites for criminal activity linked to this breach,” she said.
“Just because there has been one arrest, does not mean there won’t be more.”
Ooft.
Police are urging people affected by the data breach to keep an eye on any suspicious activity in their online accounts.
They’re also warning people not to click links in emails or texts claiming to be from Optus, and to be careful of potential scammers pretending to be Optus, the police or the bank in phone calls.
