A Chinese national charged over an elaborate phishing scam involving millions of fraudulent text messages had been living in Australia unlawfully and trying to avoid detection, a court has heard.
Jiahui Liu, 30, was arrested by cybercrime detectives on Tuesday after police executed a search warrant at his share house in the Townsville suburb of Aitkenvale.
Police allege he used a SIM box device to send 4.9 million text messages purporting to be from Centrelink, Medicare, Australia Post, Commonwealth Bank, Transurban, and Linkt.
Victims were allegedly directed to websites in an attempt to steal their money and personal information.
Mr Liu was refused bail in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Friday after a Mandarin interpreter was brought in to assist proceedings.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Tim Madsen said the alleged offending was serious.
“It’s clearly used to facilitate either a criminal organisation or individuals in order to defraud members of the community in Australia,” Sergeant Madsen said.
Defendant denied knowledge of the scam
Mr Liu is facing one charge of possessing equipment for the purpose of obtaining identity information.
Police allege they located 1,265 SIM cards in the defendant’s bedroom and a SIM box capable of sending mass messages.
Police allegedly seized more than 1,200 SIM cards from Mr Liu’s bedroom in Townsville. (Reuters: Dado Ruvic)
Acting Magistrate Kerri Fredericks said when interviewed Mr Liu told police he had found out about a “part-time job” on Chinese social media app WeChat.
“He told police he was initially sent the SIM box and 100 to 200 SIM cards in the mail,” Magistrate Fredericks said.
“He was told to hook it up to a computer and someone else had remote access to set it up.
“After this, he then sent photos of the SIM cards to someone known as the ‘Big C’ so they could be activated.”
The court heard Mr Liu would change the SIM cards each night and was paid in Chinese yuan for every night he operated the SIM box.
“He denied knowing they were scams and believed the messages were advertising,” Magistrate Fredericks said.
“He wasn’t suspicious about this work.”
Avoiding detection
The court was told Mr Liu arrived in Perth in December 2019 on a working holiday visa.
He moved to Townsville in March and police allege he took steps to avoid his whereabouts being known to authorities.
That included having a phone service registered in another name, directing his mail to a massage parlour, failing to update his details with government agencies, and living in a share house with no utilities recorded under his name.
The court heard his latest visa expired in August and he had been living unlawfully in Australia.
Jiahui Liu appeared in the Townsville Magistrates Court on Friday with the assistance of a translator. (ABC North Queensland: Tom Major)
Legal Aid lawyer Carly Hoyer said Mr Liu had been unable to contact his family in China since his arrest on Tuesday.
“This has been a very distressing time for him,” Ms Hoyer said.
She said her client wanted to resolve the matter as quickly as possible so he could return home.
‘Unacceptable risk’
Mr Liu’s passport was seized after his arrest, which Ms Hoyer argued mitigated the risk associated with granting her client bail.
The court heard that if the defendant was released from custody, he would be taken to an immigration detention facility.
Magistrate Fredericks rejected the bail application.
“I am satisfied there is an unacceptable risk that if released, he may fail to appear or surrender into custody or an unacceptable risk he may commit a further offence,” she said.
Mr Liu was remanded in custody and the case will return to court in October.
