Australian Citibank customers caught up in Philippines call centre scam
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Nick Ralston reports that Australian Citibank customers have been cleaned out by offshore call centre.
It is alleged that an overseas call centre employee was collecting banking details of Australian Citibank customers and selling them to a Sydney crime syndicate, who then used the details to defraud the customers of more than $1 million.
Police allege the worker, employed by a firm in the Philippines that carries out customer relations for a number of Australian-based companies, collected banking information, passwords and personal details for the syndicate.
The syndicate then allegedly used the details to make withdrawals and order new credit cards.
The apparent identity fraud racket was unhinged last month when police pulled over a car at Beverly Hills, in Sydney’s south, for a random breath test and found a number of allegedly fraudulent documents and other “suspicious items” in the vehicle.
Officers matched details in the documents with frauds against banking customers reported to police by Citibank, sparking an investigation by St George police and the Fraud and Cybercrime Squad.
Four male members of the alleged Sydney syndicate, aged between 23 and 38, were arrested in raids on two homes at Liverpool and West Hoxton on Thursday morning.
They have been charged with multiple fraud offences including using false documents to obtain financial advantage and knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime.
St George Local Area Command Superintendent Dave Donohue congratulates police on their proactive work, which has “played a critical role in the dismantling of a syndicate targeting unsuspecting banking customers, and has potentially prevented many more potential victims from suffering significant financial loss.”
Police continue their investigation of the Philippines call centre worker, at the centre of the call centre fraud, and of wider contact centre fraud involving other possible victims.
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