Man and woman from Seaton arrested as part of SA, NSW multimillion-dollar fraud operation

Two people have been arrested in Adelaide, and a third in Sydney, over one of the largest e-crime scams in the state’s history. Police will allege the trio stole millions of dollars using identity theft, money laundering and hacking bank accounts.

An Adelaide couple hacked numerous businesses to defraud staff of personal information in a sophisticated cyber scam worth more than $18 million, a court has heard.

Jason Lees, 32, and Emily Walker, 28, both of Seaton, appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Thursday charged over the cross-state, multimillion-dollar fraud operation.

SA Police arrested the duo on Wednesday night – hours after NSW detectives detained their alleged associate Adam Jones, 31, formerly of Adelaide, at a library south of Sydney.

In opposing bail for Lees and Walker, police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Mike Tolson said large amounts of personal data, including names, dates of birth and addresses, had been stolen from business staff.

NSW Police escort a former Adelaide man from a library in Green Square. He is accused of running a fraud operation that stole more than $18 million from businesses around the country. Picture: NSW Police

Jason Lees and Emily Walker have been charged over one of South Australia's largest e-crime scams. Picture Facebook

“There have been hundreds of (bank) accounts set up using those hacked details that have led to transactions and deposits being made in respect of those accounts,” Sgt Tolson said.

The court heard a mobile phone linked to Walker and hundreds of disposable SIM cards had been used to open the accounts.

Sgt Tolson said cryptocurrency was used to aid with money laundering.

He said police had uncovered crypto wallets used to access the accounts from any location. “One of the wallets that has been identified alone contains more than $18 million in transactions from that wallet and multiple withdrawal points,” Sgt Tolson said.

The court was told police had seized numerous computers and hard drives in addition to six mobile phones.

Lawyers for Lees and Walker requested an adjournment to seek further instructions and asked Magistrate Elizabeth Sheppard to order a home-detention report.

“I don’t normally order home-detention bail reports unless I’m satisfied that home-detention is an available option,” Ms Sheppard said.

“These types of allegations concern the activities that can sometimes occur from a person’s home.”

In NSW, Jones was remanded in custody until April 2. NSW Police Cybercrime Squad Commander Matthew Craft said Jones had a high degree of proficiency with computers. “(Personal details) had been acquired and stockpiled and then used to modify payroll data, superannuation details and then open multiple bank, email and phone accounts in the names of individuals,” he said.