Four Sydney-based students aged between 15 and 17, have been charged with helping an organised criminal gang to steal millions of pounds from online bank accounts, in a global internet banking scam operating from Australia to Eastern Europe.
Nine more suspects were arrested, including two men who are thought to be ringleaders of the international crime gang's Australian operation.
The criminals are reported to have used bogus adverts and spam emails that secretly installed backdoor Trojans onto computers in order to capture passwords and other bank details.
The Australian teenagers were then recruited as 'mules' to aid in the transfer of stolen funds into Eastern European-based bank accounts.
'Criminal gangs are getting more and more sophisticated with their tricks to make millions of pounds out of innocent people - tempting naive teenagers with the opportunity of making a quick buck is another one of their schemes,' said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos.
'It's reassuring to all online bank customers that these criminals are being uncovered and charged, however, users should still be on their guard when banking online,' he added.
