A 31-year-old man living illegally in Australia has admitted to sending about five million fraudulent texts but claimed he was unaware he was taking part in a phishing scam.
Chinese national Jiahui Liu, 31, pleaded guilty through a Mandarin interpreter in the Townsville Magistrate's Court on Wednesday to using a SIM box to send the messages.
He received a six-month suspended jail sentence but will have to leave Australia because his visa has expired.
Offender thought he was working in advertising
In September, cybercrime detectives found more than 1,200 SIM cards and the SIM box at Liu's home in the Townsville suburb of Aitkenvale.
The court heard the millions of messages that were sent purported to be various from official entities including Centrelink, Australia Post, and Transurban in a bid to obtain personal information.
Liu appeared in the court from jail, via video link.
Magistrate Susan Warrington said she accepted Liu was not the principal offender.
"His computer was set up remotely by someone else," she said, noting the SIM cards had also been provided by a third party.
Jiahui Liu was sentenced in the Townsville Magistrates Court. (ABC North Qld: Lily Nothling)
The court had previously been told the Chinese man saw the job advertised on Chinese social media service WeChat.
He arrived in Australia on a working holiday visa in 2019, which had since expired.
Magistrate Warrington said while it was a serious offence, Liu did not benefit financially from any information obtained through the messages.
He was paid, but believed he was "involved in advertising," she said.
"No-one suffered any personal or financial loss as a consequence," Magistrate Warrington said.
Legal Aid lawyer Jessica Hine said her client had made an early plea of guilty and had been in custody for the 64 days since his arrest.
"A lengthy community service may have been appropriate if he hadn't already been going to leave Australia," she said.
Abuse and isolation in jail
Magistrate Warrington said the offence was serious, and the maximum sentence she could impose was three years.
"It's a prevalent offence," she said.
"It is not always easy to detect and places vulnerable people at risk."
But she noted the mitigating factors, including Liu's early plea of guilty.
The court heard Liu had suffered abuse and isolation in jail, as well as communication difficulties.
He had not been able to communicate with his family for more than a month.
Liu is set to be released from jail immediately.