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Couple lose $40,000 to scammers after Optus hack: 'Snowballed'

An Aussie couple claim they have been scammed out of $40,000.

Mary-Jane Daffy and Jim Marinis, who are small business owners in Melbourne, believe they are victims of the Optus hack which exposed the personal details of 10 million customers in September.

The pair told 7News that cyber criminals have not only used stolen data to withdraw $40,000 from their bank account via teller withdrawals, but have also racked up $20,000 worth of debt in their name. Ms Daffy said the couple first noticed an unauthorised transaction for $9,000 in cash.

Mary-Jane Daffy and Jim Marinis who believe they are victims of the Optus hack.
Mary-Jane Daffy and Jim Marinis, from Melbourne, believe they are victims of the Optus hack. Source: 7 News

“It snowballed from there. It feels like your house is burning down and you’re locked outside and there’s nothing you can do about it,” the devastated cafe owner said.

The Australian Federal Police is running two inquiries into who obtained and attempted to sell the Optus data. The couple’s heartbreaking story emerges just days after Australia’s largest health insurer Medibank warned more customer data stolen by hackers, including passport numbers, will be uploaded to the dark web.

The first wave of files dropped on Wednesday included names, birthdates, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, health claims information, Medicare numbers for Medibank's ahm customers, and passport numbers for international student clients.

Russian network behind Medibank breach

Almost 500,000 health claims have been stolen, along with personal information, after the group hacked into its system last month. Australian Federal Police confirmed on Friday that a Russian network with global affiliates was behind the Medibank breach.

The hackers had thumbed their noses at the government after being warned the toughest "cyber guns" in Australia are coming after them, releasing more sensitive details of customers' medical records on the dark web on Friday night.

A Optus service message is displayed on a phone outside an Optus store on October 05, 2022 in Sydney, Australia.
The Australian Federal Police is running two inquiries into who obtained and attempted to sell the Optus data. Source: Getty

The ransomware group added a file named "Boozy.csv" to the dark web, which appears to contain information related to alcohol issues after a data dump on Thursday named "abortions.csv".

The group claimed on Thursday it had demanded a ransom of $US1 for each of Medibank's 9.7 million affected customers, for a total of $US9.7 million (almost $A15 million).

Medibank CEO David Koczkar said he expected the "disgraceful" release of customer data to continue each day.

"It's obvious the criminal is enjoying the notoriety," he said.

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