Paul Baker, Nathan Joseph: pair plead guilty to cyber rort at Ballarat County Court

Two Ballarat men used information bought on the dark web to compromise the identities of several people and attempt to steal more than $150,000 to buy a PlayStation, laptops and expensive electronics.

Paul Darrell Baker, 36, and Nathan William Joseph, 31, pleaded guilty to obtain financial advantage charges.

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Two Ballarat men used information bought on the dark web to compromise the identities of several people and attempt to steal more than $150,000 to buy a PlayStation, laptops and expensive electronics.

Paul Darrell Baker, 36, and Nathan William Joseph, 31, were living together in a Richards St unit when they fraudulently accessed 17 accounts, attempting to steal $153,564 between 2018 and 2019.

The County Court in Ballarat heard the men used Genesis Market and other online cybercriminal websites to buy personal email addresses, which they used to search for personal documents including bank accounts, passports and licences.

Prosecutor Peter Pickering said Baker and Joseph used that information to open bank accounts in their victims’ names, then arranged for the cards to be sent to their home.

The court heard on one occasion Baker tried to blackmail a victim whose email he had hacked, by threatening to reveal personal secrets if the man did not stop cancelling the cards he was applying for in his name.

The men used the money to buy a PlayStation 4, Apple Macbook and a bar fridge from stores including Harvey Norman, the Good Guys and Kogan.com as well as paying for bills.

The items were seized by police on July 31, 2019.

Baker cried out “oh my god, all those poor people, I’m so sorry,” when pleading guilty to a raft of obtain financial advantage by deception charges including a blackmail offence on Tuesday.

Joseph pleaded guilty to obtain financial advantage charges.

The court heard in an attempt to obscure their location, the men also had items sent to neighbouring units.

Joseph’s defence argued for an adjournment to obtain a psychological report for his client.

The plea hearing was adjourned to September 24.

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Contact reporter Tess Ikonomou

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