Renzhong Chen, Sheng Li and Xiaoxin Zheng pleaded guilty to elaborate hacking scheme

Three men who phished some of the world’s most used apps using details from the Optus hack, seizing the identity and credit card details of over 1000 victims, have entered pleas.

Renzhong Chen, Sheng Li and Xiaoxin Zheng plead guilty to elaborate hacking scheme.

Three men at the centre of an elaborate hacking scheme that resulted in over 1000 victims may be barred from the country.

Renzhong Chen, 31, Li Sheng, 24 and Xiaoxin Zheng 20, all pleaded guilty to over 100 counts of different charges including dishonestly taking property without consent and identity theft in the Port Adelaide Magistrate Court on Tuesday.

The court heard the three Chinese nationals were instructed to arrive in South Australia at the start of November in 2022, and were to be paid $300 a day while they conducted the elaborate hack.

In sentencing submissions, the police prosecutor told the court “everyday people” were targeted, including a nurse who had received a text message that her Spotify account needed to be updated.

Another victim received a similar message but in regards to her Foxtel subscription.

In total the court heard five of the 12 victim impact statements read to the court.

An earlier hearing submitted that over 1500 people have been affected by the three men’s actions.

The Advertiser understands the men persistently used other persons’ identities, used credit cards and misappropriated funds and laundered the proceeds of those offences.

Martin Anders, defence counsel for Li, submitted to the court his client had been left ashamed and his hopes of taking over his father’s business destroyed.

“His father is a property developer in Western Australia and he had hoped to learn the business, which has now been destroyed by this offence,” Mr Anders said.

“It’s all gone.”

The men carried out the elaborate scheme by “hooking in” to a marketplace for compromised data from a South Australian Airbnb.

“There is a suggestion that they saw it as a game,” Mr Anders said.

“They (the defendants) met at English school, the idea was thrown among them, they met and they all found themselves laid with this exercise.

“They have failed to look through their conduct and how they have caused people the sort of pain my friend has spoken too.”

Mr Chen and Mr Zheng have been remanded in custody since their arrest, just under 10 months.

It was submitted to the court by Mr Chen’s defence counsel that the qualified engineer took it upon himself to become somewhat of a “leader” among the group due to his age, but was by no means the one calling the shots.

Mr Zheng, who was working as a builder prior to the offending, was the one who was provided the phone with the data and was used as the “runner”.

Mr Li had been released on home detention bail which was revoked on Tuesday, due to police prosecution asking the court for a custodial sentence.

The men will be sentenced later this month.