Australian school kids part of global internet scam

Four Australian teenagers have been charged with helping organised crime gangs launder earnings from internet fraud crimes.

New South Wales police authorities charged the high school students, aged 15 to 17, today as part of a global crackdown on a group of internet scammers who have more than $600,000 by stealing online banking details and siphon off money.

A further 15 arrests are expected to be made in the next few weeks, according to Australian newspaper The Daily Telegraph.

The crime syndicated operating in Sydney, but based in Russia, lured students by offering them a share of the money, stolen using a backdoor trojan which secretly captures passwords and other banking details from unsuspecting online banking customers.

One student was paid $1,300 to launder $98,000 worth of 'phished' funds through her bank to accounts in Eastern Europe, with police fearing that the overall amount stolen could reach into the millions.

According to anti-virus firm Sophos, a further nine suspects have been arrested, allegedly including two of the outfit's Australian ringleaders.

'Criminal gangs are getting more and more sophisticated with their tricks to make millions of pounds out of innocent people,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.

'Tempting naive teenagers with the opportunity of making a quick buck is another one of their schemes,' he said.

What do you think? Email feedback@computing.co.uk

If you want to be first with the news, visit Computing every day.