Tag Archives: oceania

Dob in a toll scammer for a chance at a free car

Dob in a fake text and win a new car – that's the offer on the table for Aussies as a major toll road operator tries to fight back against scammers.

Transurban is urging people who receive fake texts demanding immediate payment of toll fees to report them after new data showed many Australians were either taken in by the scammers – or simply ignoring them.

"Don't ignore it, report it," Transurban group executive customer and technology Simon Moorfield told 9News.

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"It allows us to get that information to the telcos to get those scam messages blocked."

Transurban's research found that 57 per cent of people who received the SMS deleted it, while just nine per cent reported it to Linkt.

But now, those who choose to report the message rather than dismiss it could win an electric Hyundai or a $50 gift card.

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According to the ACCC, the federal government's Scamwatch received more than 14,500 reports of road toll scams last year, with losses totalling $664,000.

KPMG partner Stuart Mort said the concept behind the scam texts was "very simple.

"They can be threatening in nature, so people read them and panic," he said.

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Transurban says Linkt customers will never be asked to provide their payment details via a link sent in a text message.

Customers should always log directly onto their account using the website or the app.

People are also urged to look out for poor spelling and grammar, strange links, and threats, as signs of a scam.

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'What we'll end up with is a death': Top cop's warning for vigilantes

Community leaders are calling for calm in Rockhampton, Queensland amid fears vigilante tensions will boil over.

Angry locals say they'll continue to confront alleged youth criminals despite warnings from the premier and the police commissioner.

The town is simmering after a group of anti-crime protesters tried to storm a house yesterday.

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Bizarre scenes erupted in Rockhampton today as some residents took the youth crime crisis into their own hands following a rally.Police found themselves outnumbered by a group apparently bent on vigilante action.

Outnumbered police formed a blockade around the house to stop the group, which had come from a rally in Central Park.

Video showed the protesters calling out criticisms of the police.

Capricornia Police Superintendent Glen Pointing said today such actions only left the town more vulnerable, with officers called away from other jobs.

"Really all that does is leave the rest of the city exposed," he said.

"Taking the law into your own hands is fraught with danger."

Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll warned "what we'll end up with is a death".

"People putting information on social media is not always correct," she said.

"I think we have to be incredibly careful about that."

Speaking from Cairns today, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk urged people to not take the law into their own hands.

"If you have evidence of wrongdoing or criminal activity, please report it to the police," she said.

"It is of concern that so many people would want to be doing that."

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Palaszczuk acknowledged that people had "very strong feelings" about crime in their communities, but urged people to "let the police do their job".

"Someone could get hurt, this is the problem here. There could be unforeseen consequences," she said.

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'The party room has spoken': NSW Nationals leader ousted in snap spill

Paul Toole has been rolled as the NSW Nationals leader by Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders after claims an MP was encouraged to break ranks to secure a plum parliamentary job.

Toole's defeat in a party room meeting today comes after MP Ben Franklin claimed the then-leader had supported his bid to nominate for president of the upper house.

Saunders said it had been an "extremely difficult 24 hours" as he confirmed his appointment and thanked the party room for its support.

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Paul Toole has been rolled as the NSW Nationals leader by Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders after claims an MP was encouraged to break ranks to secure a plum parliamentary job.

He said Toole has been "a great servant of regional New South Wales" but it became evident his leadership was in "a tenuous position" this morning.

"The party room had some decisions to make and the party room has now spoken," he said.

"This wasn't an easy decision to make and it unfolded during the day as people started talking about what the options were and how things felt in the party room.

"I'm not going to discuss exactly what was talked about but I think many of you are aware that there were concerns that were being raised and it was felt by the room that there needed to be change and that's what happened."

Saunders said the party intended to "put all of the things that have been happening for the past couple of weeks behind us" and move forward.

"Albeit, we have an interesting day tomorrow ahead of us as far as parliament resuming for the first time and there will be some angst around what that means for the party," he said.

"We will deal with that as we need to."

Franklin came under fire last week when it emerged he was considering the role as it would give Labor an effective majority in the evenly balanced upper house.

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 2GB's Ray Hadley has reported Paul Toole's leadership will be challenged today.

Franklin told the Sydney Morning Herald Toole had told him the move would be "really good" for the party, even if their Liberal counterparts were unhappy with the move.

"I'm frustrated because Paul hasn't been honest about what took place here," Franklin said.

"I thought the leader of the party was happy with it, and I was acting under that assumption."

A ministerial salary is paid for the role, which also gives the upper house president a driver, three staff and a dining room.

Saunders lost to Toole by a single vote when the party decided its leadership in the wake of the Coalition's loss at the NSW election.

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Man allegedly killed girlfriend, dumped body in bin

After murdering his girlfriend of a month, Joon Seong Tan allegedly dumped her body in a wheelie bin and watched as a garbage truck collected her remains, a jury has been told.

Ju 'Kelly' Zhang was last seen alive by her eight-year-old son while wearing a pink nightgown watching something on her laptop on her bed.

They'd just had a dinner of lamb chops and chicken soup, and Zhang had saved a plate for a man named Eric, who she had been seeing after connecting on WeChat.

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Ju "Kelly" Zhang

She told her friend she liked that man better than Joon Seong Tan, who she had met online about a month earlier.

He was at her house that night and shared dinner with her and her son.

But while she had reportedly soured on the relationship, he was keen on her and referred to her as his "wife" in conversations with friend, jurors in his murder trial have been told.

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Tan has pleaded not guilty to a charge alleging he murdered Zhang just after 6pm on February 2, 2021 after an argument about her seeing someone else.

"She was subjected to what the evidence showed is a sustained, deliberate sharp force assault including at least one stab to the area of the heart," prosecutor Jeremy McWilliam said.

Joon Tan

He said the lies Tan allegedly told, the lengths to cover up her death and his involvement in it, and his attempt to flee were all pieces of a puzzle from which a clear picture emerges.

It's alleged Tan asked a friend to come to Zhang's Epping home in Melbourne on the night of her death, and told him they had argued and fought, and he killed her accidentally before cleaning up and putting her body in a laundry cupboard.

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He allegedly moved her body into a wheelie bin and drove to Heidelberg West and placed the bin with others out for collection.

The following morning, after driving Zhang's son to school, he allegedly returned and watch the garbage truck empty the bin, before returning it to Zhang's home.

Tan allegedly then called her close friend to tell her she was missing and the two, along with Zhang's former husband, then reported her missing to police.

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In a statement to officers, Tan said Zhang had gone out in her pyjamas and slippers, taking her mobile phone and nothing else, about 6pm.

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Zhang's body was discovered by police during a search of landfill at Wollert in June 2021.

His barrister, Greg Hughan, said Tan disputed the prosecution case.

"He maintains Ms Zhang left the home about 6pm and did not return, and he tried to find her," he said.

He denied Tan had put Zhang's body in a bin and taken it to Heidelberg West.

Tan was arrested and released by police after being interviewed on February 6, 2021.

He later made arrangements to meet officers at his home but did not show up.

Tan was arrested at Melbourne Airport on February 10.

The Supreme Court trial before Justice Mandy Fox is expected to run for four weeks.