‘Stolen’ Skoda speeds near Dreamworld with police helicopter watching; Noosa Council defrauded almost $2m by international crime gangs

A Sunshine Coast council says it was defrauded of nearly $2 million by international criminal gangs over the Christmas period last year but was told by police not to make the incident public.

Noosa Council CEO Larry Sengstock said complex, strategic and targeted tactics were used to commit the crime.

“Criminals used social engineering AI techniques and we will not go into detail so as not to reveal the criminals’ tactics and due to our legal obligation to protect Council staff,” Sengstock said.

He said the scam was not related to cybersecurity and no data was stolen. Sengstock said the incident had been reported to the Queensland Audit Office and the state government.

The alleged perpetrators of the fraud were already under investigation by the Australian Federal Police and Interpol, and the council was able to recover some of the money, according to Sengstock.

“Although we have processes and procedures in place to mitigate such incidents, unfortunately they were not effective enough in this instance because this crime was committed by highly organised, professional criminals who found a way through our processes.”