TL;DR: I have the local bank account details of an online romance scammer and want to know if they've committed a crime, and which authorities to turn to with the highest chance of bringing justice.
I have (what I think is) a very interesting legal/law enforcement scenario. I am not seeking legal advice, nor am I giving out anyone's personal information.
I've made a profile on a dating app that is notorious for the high volume of scammers (think over 90%). The reason I'm on there is to try to bring some justice to this online world full of scammers, which is a crime that I think is growing daily due to its ease, low cost, global reach, cheap/exploited labour, use of tech/AI to assist, and the large number of stupid/desperate/gullible people with money in the world. I'm not a cop or in law enforcement - just an online vigilante, I guess.
Oh, and I should state that in my profile I have a whole paragraph to the tune of "if you're a scammer, please contact me because I love messing with you and wasting your time"!
I'm a man, and I started chatting with a "woman" named Cheryl. First step is always a reverse image search and using the normal online face id tools. Of course this was an Instagram model - not famous enough to be instantly recognisable, but known to the community she's in.
The scam followed all the usual steps, and eventually moved off the platform. When that inevitable step happens, I always try to get them to move to WhatsApp because then I have a phone number to investigate. Interestingly, "she" said yes and I got her phone number. Most of the time, it's a foreign number so I usually stop at that point because the chances of pursuing anyone internationally are as close to zero as possible. However, this was a local Australian number. OK, time to keep pushing.
More and more chat happened with the usual talk of meeting up etc. And then came the money shot - "her" "dead mother" (which she had mentioned a few days ago) needed to be buried and could I help with the burial costs of $600? Sure, I said! Always say "yes" to scammers to see how much info you can get.
Here's where it gets interesting. For the first time ever, when I asked about bank account details she gave them to me! Normally, they want payment either over an anonymous platform, or one that's very hard to trace and get your money back. She made an excuse that I would be sending money to the undertaker (hence the male name), but I now have a man's name, bank, bank account number, BSB (routing number), and mobile phone number. I feel that's sufficient information to give to someone in authority now.
My questions is: has this person actually committed an enforceable crime? I haven't actually sent the money, nor will I (obviously), so is this just an "intent to defraud"? But is it fraud (or any other crime) just to pretend you're a woman when you're a man? Is it a crime to ask for money but your intention is not to use it for the stated purpose (where such purpose doesn't exist)? Could the defence be: "well, it's the same as begging, where the beggar is simply asking you for money and not forcing you, and also the beggar is pretending to be lame but they're actually not"? I mean, it's your choice to give money to a scammer or a beggar, right?
My secondary question is: which authorities do I give the information to in order to ensure the highest chance of conviction? I don't know that the NSW Police would be willing/able/have the resources to pursue this? Is there an authority that specifically investigates cyber crime, with a good rate of success?
To help everyone in the community, I'd obviously appreciate answers in the NSW jurisdiction, but if you could also keep it as broad as possible so that hopefully others around the world can do the same thing?
