A 20-year-old man has evaded a probably decade-long jail sentence after making an attempt to rip-off $2000 from Optus clients affected by its September knowledge breach.
Dennis Su, 19 on the time, pleaded responsible in November to texting 92 Optus clients and demanding they switch $2000 to a CBA checking account “or face their personal information being used for financial crimes”.
Su was sentenced as a substitute to an 18-month neighborhood corrections order on Tuesday.
“He’s a young person, has no criminal antecedent, and on all counts, he is an intelligent person,” Magistrate Emma Manea instructed Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday.
Manea and the Crown agreed the rip-off was comparatively unsophisticated however deliberate.
“It was his own number, it was his brother’s account – he was going to be caught,” the Justice of the Peace mentioned.
She instructed the court docket she believed Su was remorseful and his early plea confirmed acceptance of what he has performed.
Su downloaded private info from a web site that shared breached Optus knowledge, telling police he was having a tough time being unemployed and wished to make some “quick money”.
No one ever transferred the cash, nevertheless one particular person responded with an emoji, in keeping with the agreed details of the case.
Su then returned to the data-sharing web site and gathered extra details about the sufferer to “prove his credibility”.
He responded by saying: “The police have your details, and I have nothing you can gain so good luck.”
The teenager then deleted all of the messages earlier than being arrested on October 6.
He shouldn’t be accused of being concerned within the Optus hack which uncovered the private particulars of 10 million Optus clients in a knowledge breach in September 2022, together with clients’ passport, licence and Medicare numbers.
The attendance of Su’s mother and father within the courtroom and their continuous assist confirmed excessive prospects of rehabilitation, Manea mentioned.
The Rockdale man should report back to Sutherland Community Corrections inside seven days and full 100 hours of neighborhood service as a part of his conviction.
“Mr Su, what I’ve done is make you make a promise to be good,” the decide mentioned.
“Good luck, put this behind you. It is very serious but it is what you do with yourself.”
Su apologised to his victims outdoors of court docket and mentioned he realised he was going to be caught from the start.
Su’s instructing solicitor Lisa King believed Manea made a “good decision”.
“It is good for the justice system and it is also beneficial for Dennis,” she mentioned outdoors of court docket.
Source: www.9news.com.au
