Corruption probe leads to sacking of BHP contractors – 3 February 2025
BHP has allegedly sacked more than two dozen contractors as part of a corruption investigation into its coal operations in Queensland. According to The Australian, 26 contractors – who were all hired to work at the Saraji mine in the Bowen Basin – have been axed after the mining giant uncovered non-existent work or jobs where the extent of the work was greatly exaggerated. Some of the roles are understood to have been part time or had yet to commence.
https://procurementandsupply.com/corruption-probe-leads-to-sacking-of-bhp-contractors/
Scam alert: ASIC warns consumers about investment bond scam impersonating Bunnings – 3 February 2025
Scammers are impersonating Bunnings Warehouse by offering fake sustainability investment bonds.
The scam offers higher than market returns and claims that investments are protected by the government. It contains links to Bunnings’ genuine website, but Bunnings does not offer bonds or any other investment products.
Weak scam policies placing super members at risk, warns ASIC – 3 February 2025
An ASIC review found that superannuation trustees’ anti-scam practices were insufficient, according to an open letter signed by ASIC Commissioner Simone Constant. Out of the 15 superannuation trustees included in the review, none had an organisation-wide scams policy to protect their customers.
Criticism over inadequate actions to compensate victims in touted Scams Prevention Framework – 4 February 2025
The Albanese government’s new Bill to help victims of scams has been criticised for not doing enough to help people get their money back. Banks, telcos and social media platforms won’t be forced to automatically compensate scam victims, as part of the federal government’s Scams Prevention Framework, aimed at protecting Australians from financial crime.
Coinbase users lose $65M to scams, ZachXBT reports – 4 February 2025
Onchain investigator known as ZachXBT reported that users of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) have lost over $65 million due to social engineering scams between December 2024 and January 2025. He revealed how scammers employed stolen personal data from private databases to execute their schemes.
Fraud Section picks monitors for Australian shipbuilder – 5 February 2025
The US Department of Justice has chosen two partners at a risk and compliance consultancy to serve as monitors for Australian shipbuilder Austal, which pleaded guilty in 2024 to misleading investors.
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Bank sues customer who lost $2.6m to scammers – 5 February 2025
Sylvia Chou lost $2.6 million to scammers of a sophisticated currency exchange trading scheme. They cleaned out her personal savings then got her to borrow money from friends and family and refinance her properties. NAB is now suing her for $1.4 million plus interest because of a discrepancy when she refinanced her properties. Chou is lending her support to news.com.au’s campaign People Before Profit, calling on the federal government to make it mandatory for banks to compensate scam victims – just like in the UK.
Australian victims of online dating scams lose almost $12k on average – 5 February 2025
New research has revealed that scammers are taking advantage of Australians looking for love via online dating apps, with 40 per cent of Australian users reporting being targeted by some form of dating scam. Catfishing, another form of false identity scam, accounts for 29 per cent of dating scams, while fake dating sites are responsible for another 26 per cent.
Court hears youth justice officer risked jail time by secretly recording murder-accused inside Don Dale detention centre – 6 February 2025
A series of secret recordings of a detainee at the Don Dale Youth Detention Centre were thrown out as evidence in a high-profile murder trial, after a judge found them to be a “significant intrusion into the accused’s rights”. The 17-year-old target of the recordings was last year found guilty, along with three others, of murdering an 18-year-old man in Palmerston in 2022.
Telco issues major scam warning – 6 February 2025
Australia is currently the biggest victim of scam in the world, with Australians losing $100 per head compared with $45 per head in the United States. In the UK scammers are losing around $34 per person. People fall for phishing scams within 10 seconds of arriving in the mailbox. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) issued an alert warning of scammers impersonating the Australian Cyber Security Centre.
Westpac Bank strikes $80k settlement with Kiwi scam victims who lost $323k to investment fraud – 6 February 2025
One of the country’s biggest banks has struck an $80,000 financial settlement with a Kiwi couple who lost $323,000 in an elaborate investment scam – offering a “goodwill payment” to resolve the dispute. The stolen cash was tracked to the account of an Australian “money mule”, who claims he was an “intermediary” for investors. Private school principal Mark Geraets accused Westpac of negligence after he and his wife Yvonne lost their life savings in March last year.
