Erin Patterson to return to stand in mushroom murder trial
Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson will return to the witness box when her trial resumes today.
She's told the jury she had a good relationship with her in-laws, denying the prosecution's argument that she held other beliefs about them in private.
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News.com.au
38 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Aussie loses $320,000 to chilling threat and extortion scam
It all began for Amelia* when she received a call from what she thought was her credit card company in June last year – unaware the number had been spoofed and she wasn't talking to the bank. The 30-year-old was initially told her credit card had been used in an attempt to buy drugs online and she would be transferred to the police to make a report. 'It got really ridiculously elaborate and awful from there,' she told 'I lost over $320,000 of my life savings because of this scam.' The scammers, posing as Chinese police, then accused Amelia of being part of a criminal syndicate responsible for a large scale money laundering operation. The Sydney woman was told she faced being arrested, deported and put in jail leaving her 'completely in fear'. 'They told me a criminal had told the police that I had sold my details to create a bank account for a cut of the stolen money and they had to investigate me,' she said. To avoid jail, the nurse had to agree to be under 24/7 surveillance and not tell anyone about her situation. 'They had me be on a live call and video live stream for two months to make sure I did not break any rules while I was under investigation,' she revealed. 'At the time, I was very scared so I just don't think I could make any rational decisions.' Amelia said she was also forced to sign confessions to avoid being put in jail. Chillingly, Amelia was then coached by the scammers on how to make international bank transfers without raising suspicions. 'They told me all the bank's policies and how to bypass the security system and told me the story to use,' she said. 'They said if I did not look calm and if the transaction didn't go through I would go to jail. There was a lot of fear and manipulation on their end.' Amelia made two transfers out of her Commonwealth Bank of Australia account. The first transfer was $134,000 from her mortgage offset to her own ANZ account. She then made a $200,000 transfer from the ANZ account to the scammers, which she was told would be given to the Chinese government to keep her out of jail. Then in July, she worked to scrape together more money — requesting a top up of her CBA home loan for $60,000, which she told the bank was for home renovations. 'I was at a height of a stress response mania the whole time trying to survive the ordeal,' she added. Do you have a story? Contact The scammers even provided documents that said Foreign Minister Penny Wong had signed off on a treaty for judicial assistance in combating the crime. Among the eight documents seen by one claimed that Amelia was the 'principal offender in a major transnational online pyramid scheme case, which has caused huge financial losses to numerous Chinese citizens'. 'A large portion of the funds was laundered through Singapore to countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, constituting serious financial crimes,' it reads. A spokesperson for the Foreign Minister said she was deeply concerned to hear her name has been used as part of this scam and her thoughts are with the victim. 'To target vulnerable members of the Chinese-Australian community in this way is disgraceful,' they added. 'We urge Australians to remain vigilant to these types of scams, to verify any claims made by contacting relevant Australian authorities directly, and to never give out your personal banking details or send any money to anyone you do not know or trust.' In August, Amelia transferred $120,000 from her CBA account to the scammers, as they told her 16 victims had been identified and they wanted her back in China to sue her, while also forcing her to write apology letters. While CBA did place a temporarily stop on the $120,000 transfer and the bank's group fraud management team service called and asked a number of questions, the transfer was allowed to go ahead. Amelia had also been warned in branch that if the transfers were a scam, she was unlikely to recover her money. However, Amelia is critical that the banks just brought the story that the funds were being transferred to her cousin to assist with an IT start-up. She was told by the scammers to say she had chatted to her cousin regularly via voice and video calls, she had met them last in November 2023, contracts were not necessary in her culture and that the money would be returned eventually. 'I was coached so well. The banks asked the very standard questions and did their job,' she claimed. 'They did the very standard precautions and I know they are standard as the scammers told me what to expect – so they knew everything to basically fool the banks. Both of the banks put it all through after I gave them the story.' Seven days after the $120,000 transfer, CBA locked down her account and requested she provided a dated conversation history with her cousin, their ID or passport and relevant documents relating to the business. It was then Amelia told the bank she was a scam victim. In September, she learned that none of her life savings could be recovered. CBA told her they were not liable for the scam as Amelia authorised the transactions, there were no red flags, the bank complied with its duty and initiated an attempted recovery within acceptable time frames, she was told in a letter. The bank made an initial goodwill offer of a $2000 payment, which it later increased to $4158, but Amelia declined. She said the experience was 'awful' and has turned her life upside down, adding she was 'fooled' as she believed the scammers were police. 'I honestly couldn't break out of it – my mind was so scared,' she said. 'I was so isolated and so vulnerable. CBA froze my account after all my money had already been taken – the scammers had everything … As the scammers had me on a live video call and were surveilling me the whole time they knew my funds were frozen and they completely disappeared the next day. 'It was really sick.' The nurse made a complaint and accepted a goodwill offer from ANZ to settle the matter as she was desperate for funds. In a letter, ANZ said while Amelia had been the victim of an extortion and impersonation scam, the bank was not at fault. ANZ told Amelia said it had not received any alerts that the recipient account was engaged in fraudulent or scam activity and Amelia was referred to the Scam Assist team and asked for additional information about the transfer with her answers described as 'plausible'. 'ANZ is required to take the information you tell us on face value and we are unable to ascertain whether a customer has been coached by a scammer in how to respond to the bank,' a letter said. But she lost her case against CBA at the industry funded external dispute resolution service, the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, in February this year. She also told CBA she was in extreme financial hardship. 'I went from losing savings from over 15 years of my life to having a $250,000 debt, my mortgage repayments went from zero to $1000 a month while I couldn't even find the will to live,' she said. 'I had to keep working full time in a very challenging role that took a lot from me physically and emotionally already. CBA asked me to prove my financial hardship. This meant sending them a bank statement that showed I had $140 in my saving account to get me through the week for daily living and transport expenses. 'Everything else, they could see as I have my entire debt and savings in their database as their customer of many years. But they wanted to be sure, I wasn't hiding away money.' She also reported the scam to NSW Police but was told as the funds had been transferred offshore, they were unable to further investigate. A report was made by Amelia to Hong Kong police too. understands that the scam has now been brought to the attention of the Australian Federal Police. Amelia said the devastating impact of the scam is ongoing as she deals with depression while 'masking' that she is fine, with one of the few to know about her experience. 'My family still does not know,' she said. 'I can't believe someone else was malicious enough to be so sick to do that to someone. It was not only financial but the emotional scarring they have done is so unnecessary.' Amelia believes Australia's banks fail to show any sympathy for scam victims. 'They do not understand how life-altering it is for their customer who worked and slaved away for more than a decade and earned their money legitimately, to lose it all this way, when banks knew and continue to be informed about these scam operations and their strategies,' she said. 'Their management of scam cases and their resolution and compensation is absolutely atrocious as they continue to make money from victims of crime without any guilt or compassion.' She said the loss of her life savings 'is heartbreaking and it has changed my life and my future'. 'They should have been suspicious about the international transfer, they should have questioned more about such a large sum, they did not have measures in place to protect victims of scams such as myself, acting under duress and fear for their safety,' she said. Consumer Action Law Centre CEO Stephanie Tonkin said scams targeting cultural communities can be some of the most 'extreme' with victims left to pick up the pieces, despite being targeted by sophisticated criminal outfits. 'There is an extraordinary level of shame and guilt and these scams go on to have lasting impacts,' she said. 'A lot of people who fall victim to scams will never tell anyone and live with guilt, shame and financial insecurity and very severe health impacts, including trauma.' Ms Tonkin said these scams are notoriously successful 'so it's not far fetched'. 'Put yourself in the shoes of this poor scam victim she was clearly terrified and clearly believed the threats she being made otherwise she wouldn't have been manipulated,' she said. 'This will have a lasting impact as she will be paying interest on the money that was scammed and stolen from her. She was approaching the bank using the language the scammers had fed her. Ultimately the bank is the line of defence and the bank has allowed this scam to happen from its front lines. The role of the bank is to protect the customers' money and they failed.' She expressed concerns the centre was seeing a rise in 'lots of really complex scams where the scammers are investing a lot of time and resources into grooming their victims'. The ACCC reported scam losses increased by 28 per cent to almost $119 million for the first four months of this year, compared to the same time last year. A CBA spokesperson said Amelia was the victim of a threat and penalty scam, where the scammers impersonated international authorities and used realistic threatening tactics to create a sense of urgency and to frighten her into sending money. 'We understand that falling victim to a scam can be both emotionally and financially distressing and we take active steps to help protect and support our customers,' they said. 'While we raised scam concerns with (Amelia) before the payments were made, the information she provided at the time indicated they were legitimate. 'As (Amelia) began to openly explain what the payments were for, we acted quickly to try to try to recover the funds. We are reaching out to (Amelia) to ascertain what further assistance we may be able to offer.' An ANZ spokesperson said they were are unable to comment on individual customers. 'In instances when our staff develop suspicions that a customer may be being influenced or coached by a scammer, our staff will refer a customer to our Scam Assist team to conduct thorough reviews, ask probing questions, and provide detailed scam education before authorising transactions,' they added. 'This includes educating customers on common scam types, identifying potential risks and financial loss – including the possibility that funds may not be recoverable.'
News.com.au
9 hours ago
- News.com.au
Family demands answers after Jason Rigby's ‘suicide' stabbing death in Fiji
The family of an Australian man who died under mysterious circumstances while working at a hotel in Fiji, are demanding answers after his death was ruled a suicide. Jason Rigby, 40, was working as acting manager of Crowne Plaza Fiji Nadi Bay Resort on December 14 last year when he was found unconscious in the bathroom of a suite with stab wounds to his chest. Speaking to 60 Minutes, friend and colleague Arushi Arora said Jason was found by two people with stab wounds. Upon finding Jason, one person called Ms Arora and ordered her to call an ambulance, adding Jason had 'stabbed himself' in the apartment. Ms Arora then ran into the bathroom, where she said she found the 40yo 'half lying there' with a 'couple of injuries to his chest'. He was declared dead at the scene. Born in Christchurch, Jason eventually settled on the Gold Coast, where he became a surf lifesaver and eventually followed his father's footsteps by entering the hotel business. Remembered as a fun-loving and adventure-seeking guy, his brother Chris told The Australian he 'loved his freedom and doing what he wanted'. Jason's heartbroken family said they were left in the dark about his death for 10 hours, when they learned the news from Queensland Police. When brother Peter Rigby spoke to Jason's girlfriend, she said she understood his death was a suicide. Fiji Police also said the cause of death was suicide, and confirmed there would be 'no criminal investigation' into the incident. However, Jason's family are demanding an investigation be launched into his death, adding they were offered 'little-to-no information' about the circumstances of the incident. They have enlisted a private investigator and former UK police detective, Phil Jones, to unearth any evidence about the death. Chris doesn't think his brother's death was a suicide, and believes there was 'foul play' involved. 'I think something's happened a couple of days leading up (to James' death),' he told 60 Minutes. 'We don't know what that is, but, um we could be missing something.' Professor Roger Byard said the official explanation for Jason's death didn't add up, and said the local police should have treated his death as a homicide immediately. 'Suicidal stabbings are so uncommon, and you don't want to miss a homicide,' he said. They have since hired legal representation to push the case, which they said has been upgraded into a murder investigation. Jason's family said investigations into his death determined the knife found at the scene did not belong to him, sparking further questions about its origins. 'We're going to keep fighting until we, until we get those answers,' Chris said. 'We just want justice for him. We can't bring him back ... but at least justice. That's what we want.' The family said Jason's death was now the subject of a coronial inquest at the Nadi Magistrates Court. However, on Sunday, Fiji Police Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime Mesake Waqa told local outlet Fijivillage there was no indication of any foul play. He added investigations into Jason's death were ongoing and urged for the family's patience.
ABC News
11 hours ago
- ABC News
Iranian foreign minister condemns US after bombings
Photo shows Ukraine Drone Strike: Screengrab shows a small drone hovering above a truck's trailer with a plume of smoke in the background. Has Video Duration: 1 minute 41 seconds . 1 m 41 s
