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.