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Stupid mistake that brought down teen Optus scammer after he tried to extort thousands of Australians out of thousands of dollars
A 20-year-old man has evaded a jail sentence that could last a decade after attempting to swindle $2,000 from Optus customers affected by his September data breach.
Dennis Su, 19 at the time, pleaded guilty in November to texting 92 Optus customers and demanding they transfer $2,000 to a CBA bank account “or face having their personal information used for financial crimes”.
Su was sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order Tuesday.
“She is a young person, she has no criminal record and in all respects she is an intelligent person,” Magistrate Emma Manea told Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday.
Dennis Su, 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of using network-connected equipment to commit a felony Tuesday.
Ms. Manea and the Crown agreed that the scam was relatively unsophisticated but deliberate.
“It was his own number, it was his brother’s account, they were going to catch him,” said the magistrate.
She told the court that she believed Su was sorry and her early statement showed acceptance of what she had done.
Su downloaded personal information from a website that shared breached Optus data, and told police he was having a hard time being unemployed and wanted to earn some “quick money.”
No one transferred the money, but one person responded with an emoji, according to case details.
Su then went back to the data-sharing website and gathered more information about the victim to “prove her credibility.”
He responded by saying, ‘The police have your data and I don’t have anything you can win, so good luck.’
The teen then deleted all the messages before being arrested on October 6.
He is not accused of involvement in the Optus hack that exposed the personal data of 10 million Optus customers in a data breach in September 2022, including customers’ passport, license and Medicare numbers.
The 19-year-old contacted nearly 100 customers affected by Australia’s largest cyberattack after finding their contact details online (a screenshot of the text Su sent is shown here)
Su’s parents’ attendance at the courtroom and their continued support showed high prospects for rehabilitation, Ms. Manea said.
The Rockdale man must report to Sutherland Community Corrections within seven days and complete 100 hours of community service as part of his sentence.
“Mr. Su, what I have done is make you promise that it will be good,” said the judge.
‘Good luck, put this behind you. It is very serious, but it is what you do with yourself.
Su apologized to his victims outside of court, saying he realized he was going to get caught early on.
Su’s instructing attorney, Lisa King, believed Ms. Manea had made a “good decision.”
“It’s good for the justice system and it’s good for Dennis as well,” he said outside of court.