A woman has faced a Sydney court after allegedly fleecing a Canberra woman out of $1 million.
New South Wales cybercrime detectives arrested Annelise Sunderland, 29, in November, and will allege she fraudulently took the money during a property settlement earlier this year.
It is alleged a woman in the ACT unwittingly deposited $1 million into a fraudulent account — the details of which had been taken from a compromised email sent to the buyer's lawyer.
Today, Ms Sunderland faced Parramatta local court where she pleaded not guilty to two counts of recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Police urge online caution
Ms Sunderland's arrest came several months after cybercrime police set up Strike Force Urban to investigate "invoice frauds" and "business email compromise" scams.
These types of fraud involve the creation of a fake invoice that contains account details and requests money from an unsuspecting victim.
NSW Police said detectives were notified earlier this year of an ACT woman depositing $1 million in a fraudulent account, during the settlement period of a property.
During this period a buyer pays the remainder of a sale price and becomes the legal owner of a property.
In October, detectives raided a unit in Parramatta and allegedly seized numerous mobile phones and documents for forensic analysis.
Today, Ms Sunderland faced Parramatta Local Court, where she entered not guilty pleas to her charges.
Ms Sunderland was released on bail and will face court again in February.
NSW Cybercrime Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft said people must remain vigilant when conducting transactions online.
"Get in the habit of checking the email address, URL, and spelling used in all correspondence and heavily scrutinise all transactions that you make online," he said.
"To avoid being scammed, people should use two-step verification methods where appropriate, and regularly update and maintain strong passwords."
