Esperance detectives are warning people about specific online scams that involve a money laundering method called “cuckoo smurfing”.
Detective senior sergeant Wayne Davies said an Esperance resident was manipulated to believe he was in a relationship with a person he had met online leaving him considerably out of pocket.
The scam, which had been ongoing for about a year, began when a stranger contacted the victim via email.
“Generic emails get sent out from a stranger saying, ‘Would you like to be friends?’” Snr Sgt Davies said.
The victim began exchanging messages with the online presence on WhatsApp, according to Snr Sgt Davies, and after a time, the offender had gained more than just the trust of the victim.
“In this case she allegedly employed the services of a solicitor arranged through Birth Deaths and Marriages to obtain a marriage certificate,” Snr Sgt Davies said.
“So, the victim has provided copies of his passport and copies of his bank statement.”
“He believes he is now married to this person.”
Snr Sgt Davies said the offender then began to constantly request money from the victim, which they would obtain through untraceable transactions.
“She said she was living in Europe on a farm, and she needed money to sustain her life on the farm,” Snr Sgt Davies said.
“Through WhatsApp she told the victim how to transfer money.”
The victim complied to these requests, Snr Sgt Davies said, by sending images of gift vouchers or transferring amounts into unknown bank accounts, investing tens of thousands of dollars into a relationship that never existed.
“He believed at the end of the day that they were going to be together,” he said
“When you look at from the outside its got ‘scam’ written all over it.
“But when you’re in it you can’t see that.”
The risk of cuckoo smurfing Scams
Cuckoo smurfing is a method of money laundering that the Australian Federal Police said was “used by criminals to make money generated by criminal activities appear to have come from a legitimate source”.
In the case of the Esperance man, Snr Sgt Davies said the scam victim was being used as a third party to launder money unknowingly to an overseas bank account controlled by a crime syndicate.
“We were contacted by other police jurisdictions because there was an investigation into a potential cyber fraud involving people from Esperance,” he said.
“Money was being stolen from NSW and Queensland and put into his account.
“He was of the opinion that he was sending it to family friends of hers.”
Snr Sgt Davies said that the victim had had to open multiple bank accounts to complete these transactions as Westpac, NAB and The Western Union all flagged the transactions as scams and closed the victim’s account.
“If the banks say that they believe the transactions are unusual they can stop you from using the facility,” he said.
Snr Sgt Davies said that these scams were becoming more prevalent, and scammers were targeting people in an older age group and those who could identify as lonely.
“He’s the only person we’ve identified in Esperance, especially with the aging population in Esperance, he wouldn’t be the only one,” he said.
Cuckoo smurfing works by getting victims to transfer money to other victims until the original source of the money can’t be identified.
“It gets passed around to the point where it becomes untraceable and unknown as to where it started,” Snr Sgt Davies said.
Esperance police are warning the public to be mindful when engaging with strangers online because cyber scams are becoming so common.
“There is a lot of scammers out there,” Snr Sgt Davies said.
“People need to be mindful of any strangers they engage with online.
“Do not under any circumstances give anyone your banking details or passwords to internet banking.
“If you are unsure, seek some advice.”
Snr Sgt Davies said there was a government app where alleged cyber-crimes could be reported.
Photos: Anthony Shkraba and leeloothefirst on Pexels
