Australian man arrested in alleged scam of Optus hack victims

The information used by the alleged blackmailer was from a batch of 10,200 stolen customer records that were posted online. — AP

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested a 19-year-old Sydney man for allegedly trying to blackmail victims of a giant data breach at mobile-phone company Optus.

The man allegedly texted 93 people who were affected by last month’s hack of the Australian telecommunications provider, demanding they transfer A$2,000 (RM6,036) to a bank account or face having their personal information be used for financial crimes, the AFP said in a statement on Oct 6.

At this stage it appears none of the people who received the text message transferred money to the account, the AFP said.

About 1.2 million Optus customers had personal information compromised in the initial attack. AFP Assistant Commissioner Cyber Command Justine Gough said the man isn’t suspected of being responsible for the Optus breach, but tried to benefit financially from the stolen data.

The information used by the alleged blackmailer was from a batch of 10,200 stolen customer records that were posted online.

The man has been charged with two offenses that carry a maximum sentence of 10 and seven years’ jail. – Bloomberg