Queensland police have charged a 75-year-old man with receiving more than a million dollars from ransomware victims as the representative for overseas scammers.
Victims were contacted by cold-calling overseas criminals and told their computer needed repairs, Mackay police allege.
If the victims agreed to provide remote access into the machine, the scammers would download and install ransomware on their computers and demand money to unlock the files.
Police arrested the man last Friday and charged him with recklessly engaging in money laundering.
He is alleged to have set up three companies - JC Enterprising, JC Web Creations, and ITZ Services - between February 2015 and July this year after being contacted by a fake computer repair company overseas to become its local representative and receive funds from their customers.
The man is alleged to have been part of the ransomware scam for seven years, transferring more than $1 million to overseas entities since 2010.
He will appear before the Mackay magistrates court on August 3.
Mackay police warned people not to take unexpected calls from unknown individuals, and to hang up if it didn't feel right.
"Under no circumstances" should people download software to their computers if they're being cold-called by strangers, police said.
