ABN Fraud Australian Border Force update

Australian Border Force (ABF) has communicated to Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) an evolution in the ABN Fraud "piggyback" methodology.

As as has been detailed in recent training and correspondence, a frequently used ABN fraud method involves the registration of a domain name similar to the company or sole trader that is being used in the attempted import.

This enables communication through an email address linked to this domain name.  This looks more legitimate – but the .com stands out compared to a .com.au.
 
Last week the ABF started to see the use of similar Australian domain names being used in an attempt to 'piggyback' on the legitimate import history of an importer.
 
Australian domain names require either an Australian registered company number (ACN) or Australian Business Number
https://business.gov.au/online-and-digital/business-website/register-a-domain-name



In a recent case, the 'importer' went to the effort of registering a company in order to register a similar domain name.  They then created an identical version of the real business' website so as to appear legitimate.
 
The 'fraud' could be detected by checking WHOIS https://whois.auda.org.au/ - which revealed that the page was owned by a different ABN holder.
 
ABF appreciate that the due diligence demands on business holders are substantial and not getting easier – but the efforts seem to be impacting the fraud efforts and behaviours.