7 stories this week:

 

How can Australian businesses protect themselves from invoice fraud – 13 August 2021
According to the ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams Report, businesses lost over $A128m to business email compromise scams – that’s nearly $A2.5m a week. Scammers are exploiting the pandemic and are scamming businesses out of their much needed cash, with total invoice fraud losses jumping by 180%. Detail of invoice scams and how to avoid them are detailed in this article.

https://idm.net.au/article/0013560-how-can-australian-businesses-protect-themselves-invoice-fraud

https://www.stacklaw.com.au/news/criminal-law/business-email-compromise-scams-conning-australians-out-of-millions/?utm_source=Mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=LinkedIn-integration


An anonymous hacker stole $813 million in cryptocurrency, then gave it back – 14 August 2021
An anonymous hacker who stole more than US$600 million ($813m) from the decentralised finance platform, Poly Network, has returned virtually all of the money – and apparently turned down a half-million-dollar reward offered by the company for exposing its security vulnerability.

https://www.9news.com.au/world/cryptocurrency-anonymous-hacker-stole-600-million-then-gave-it-back/e6734dfb-3f68-4d30-a745-913bdddea088


The Dark Side of bitcoin that no one knows – 14 August 2021
Article details the scams and fraudulent activities associated with bitcoin. The risks are due to the anonymous nature of bitcoin, the associated virus and malware attacks and the lack of protection against hackers who steal the private keys of users through phishing attacks.

https://www.techguide.com.au/news/cryptocurrency/the-dark-side-of-bitcoin-that-no-one-knows


Police explain Oxford ‘money mule’s’ links to Australian fraud – 15 August 2021
Sydney mum Mary Ann Abellanoza, an accountant at Silversea cruises, siphoned off $3.7m over five years. In 2019, she was jailed for eight years. Police described Mackenzie as part of an ‘international ring of money launderers’ responsible for moving the proceeds of the fraud.

https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19513953.police-explain-oxford-money-mules-links-australian-fraud/


Continuous disclosure reforms, the new mental element for civil penalty actions, and shareholder class actions – 16 August 2021
Article by Clayton Utz, details some of the considerations that are likely to arise in shareholder or securities class actions in relation to amended Australia’s continuous disclosure laws.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=0ba9a767-570d-42c9-a954-f50160b75c0d


A third of financial institutions have increased AI and ML in response to money laundering – 17 August 2021
A third of financial institutions are accelerating their AI and machine learning (ML) adoption for anti-money laundering (AML) technology in response to COVID-19, according to a new AML technology study by software company SAS, accounting organisation KPMG, and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (Acams).

https://securitybrief.com.au/story/a-third-of-financial-institutions-have-increased-ai-and-ml-in-response-to-money-laundering


Check your bank account for mysterious $8.19 charge – 17 August 2021
The Commonwealth Bank has issued a warning to thousands of Australian customers to watch out for a rogue outgoing payment of around $8. This indicates that your bank account may have been compromised with scammers using horror movie streaming platform Shudder.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/banking/check-your-bank-account-for-mysterious-819-charge/news-story/04f044d50b85642d88131ade2bdb46fd