An ACT woman has allegedly been the victim of a $1 million property scam.
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NSW Cybercrime Squad detectives charged a Parramatta woman following an investigation into the fraudulent acquisition of more than $1 million allegedly obtained during a property settlement.
Earlier this year, detectives from Cybercrime Squad established Strike Force Urban to investigate numerous fraudulent transactions resulting from cyber-enabled "invoice frauds", or business email compromise (BEC) scams.
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A BEC occurs when an individual or a company receives a fake invoice purporting to be from a service or goods provider, requesting that money be sent to a fraudulent account.
As part of ongoing inquiries, detectives were notified after an ACT woman allegedly deposited more than $1 million into a fraudulent account during the settlement period of a property sale.
Further inquiries under the strike force revealed the recipient's account details had been sourced from a compromised email address belonging to the woman's lawyer, which contained altered bank details.
Following extensive investigations, detectives executed a search warrant at a unit on Tennyson Street, Parramatta, about 8.20am on October 26.
During the search, police seized numerous mobile phones and documents for forensic analysis.
Following further inquiries, a 29-year-old Parramatta woman attended Granville Police Station about 10am on November 24.
She was arrested and charged with two counts of recklessly deal with proceeds of crime (more than $5000 value).
The woman was granted conditional bail and is due to appear at Parramatta Local Court on Tuesday.
Cybercrime Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft said people must remain vigilant when conducting transactions online.
"Get in the habit of checking the email address, URL, and spelling used in all correspondence and heavily scrutinise all transactions that you make online," Detective Superintendent Craft said.
"BEC scams aren't easy to detect because the invoices for clients and contractors often use the desired recipients branding but contain altered banking details.
"To avoid being scammed, people should use two-step verification methods where appropriate, and regularly update and maintain strong passwords."
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