Optus scammer avoids jail

The man who tried to extort money from customers affected by the Optus data breach has avoided a jail sentence.

Named as 20-year-old Dennis Su in media reports, he sent the attempted scam text messages to at least 92 Optus customers, using data from the carrier’s 2022 data breach.

Su was yesterday sentenced to 100 hours’ community service, and is subject to an 18 month community correction order. He also had a conviction recorded.

Using details from a collection of 10,200 customer records that were leaked online, he texted customers demanding $2000, threatening that if he wasn’t paid, he would use that data for other financial crimes.

The Australian Federal Police said there was no evidence that any of the targets paid Su.

The data breach has cost Optus at least $140 million, and in response to it, the government has expanded funding to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

The government also fast-tracked reforms to the Privacy Act that lifted the maximum penalty for a serious breach to at least $50 million.