Contents Legal
STAYING AWARE
FRAUDULENT EMAILS BE AWARE
Extract:
Roof mapping census A
n Australian government-owned company has launched the country’s first building census which maps every building with a roof area of more than nine square metres.
M
BA Lawyers continues to receive reports regarding scammers sending fraudulent emails and obtaining funds.
The Geoscape dataset produced by PSMA Australia identifies a total of 15,243,669 buildings.
A common scenario is that the client receives an email from the builder’s actual email address, or from an email address which has the same or similar domain name as the builder’s email address, directing the client to pay funds for works using “new” or “updated” bank account details.
The data set collects information on the location, elevation, height, roof materials and footprint of a building as well as the presence of solar panels, nearby trees and swimming pools. It also captures all land and tree cover across Australia.
The client then pays into the different bank account, only to be told afterwards that the builder never sent the email and has not changed bank accounts.
Analysis of the data shows there are 4,953 buildings that are deemed high rise (more than 35 metres tall). If Australia were a city, it would sit in 7th place among the world’s top 10 global cities with greatest number of high-rises, behind Moscow (11,783); Hong Kong (7,883); Seoul (7,185); São Paulo (6,332); New York City (6,250); and Singapore (5,861), according to figures published on worldatlas.com.
The client then claims to have paid for works as directed by the builder and refuses or is reluctant to pay the builder any more money for that payment claim. This scam is also perpetrated on builders in relation to moneys owed to subcontractors and suppliers. The same scenario has also occurred between builders and trades wherever moneys are owed. MBA Lawyers urges members to be vigilant regarding protection against computer viruses and other methods of obtaining personal information such as hacking. Furthermore, and more effectively, members are advised to inform their clients immediately of this danger. Builders should advise their clients that any direction(s) to change bank account details will always be confirmed by the builder by telephone and any such email direction should be treated as suspicious and not acted upon prior to the client receiving that call. In the future, prior to or at the time of contracting, the client should be warned that all apparent directions to pay into a different bank account from the one originally used should always be confirmed via telephone. A simple telephone call by the client to the builder in this situation will most likely prevent any scam from being successful. Members are urged to make their clients aware of this serious issue and implement protective measures accordingly. If you have any queries in relation to this e-circular please contact MBA Lawyers on (02) 8586 3517 or legal@mbansw.asn.au.
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MBA NSW | Issue One | January-March 2019
The data also shows Victoria has the biggest building in Australia at 187,490 square metres. Queensland has the highest number of buildings deemed to be remote (9,290) while Tasmania is deemed to be the most remote state with 33 percent of its building classified as rural, compared with 22 percent across the nation. The data set is produced by PSMA Australia – a self-funded company owned by governments of Australia. PSMA Australia CEO Dan Paull said, “We’re already seeing Geoscape being used in hugely important ways that will have real-life benefits to millions in Australia. “For example, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) is currently using Geoscape to identify buildings that may fall within the scope of new combustible cladding legislation. By identifying features like building height and floor area, the QBCC can locate eligible buildings, which is a key step in ensuring building owners are complying with requirements to assess cladding, helping reduce the chance of serious fires.” The data is commercially available to Australian organizations. https://architectureau.com/articles/australias-first-national-buildingcensus-launched/? Video Link: https://youtu.be/GM44TS7rbbs
