❓ A WA parliamentary question sought information on whether government agencies within the Mines and Petroleum; Small Business portfolio had fallen victim to scams and what measures were in place to prevent future occurrences. The answer indicated no agencies were affected and outlined existing preventative measures.
AnsweredQoN 5839Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the online news article published by the ABC online on 17 August 2016 in relation to scammers stealing $500,000 from West Australian businesses over the past two years as reported by the Department of Consumer Protection, and I ask: (a) have any WA Government agencies within the Minister’s
portfolio of responsibility fallen victim to these scams over the past two
years; (b) if so which agencies have been impacted; (c) for each agency impacted, what was the nature of, and the
dollar amount lost in connection to each scam; (d) have
criminal charges been laid against any persons or entities in connection to
these scams; and (e) what
measures have you taken to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers
via WA Government agencies?
portfolio of responsibility fallen victim to these scams over the past two
years; (b) if so which agencies have been impacted; (c) for each agency impacted, what was the nature of, and the
dollar amount lost in connection to each scam; (d) have
criminal charges been laid against any persons or entities in connection to
these scams; and (e) what
measures have you taken to ensure that public funds are not lost to scammers
via WA Government agencies?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
18 October 2016
Responded by
Minister for Mines and Petroleum; Small Business
Response time
34 days
Answer as at 14 September 2016:
Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP)
(a) No.
(b-d) Not applicable.
(e) All payments made by DMP are not processed unless properly authorised by the appropriate delegated officer.
All requests to create a supplier or change bank account details require secondary validation through existing established contact details. This requirement incorporates the recent recommendation by the Department of Commerce regarding scams.
Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA)
(a) No.
(b-d) Not applicable.
(e) The MRIWA has rigourous controls in place to promote sound financial management. Policies and practices exist and are applied by all staff to avoid financial mismanagement.
Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC)
(a) No.
(b-d) Not applicable.
(e) The SBDC reviews all suspect emails captured in the spam filter, raising and reinforcing awareness of potential scams to all staff and reviewing and reinforcing payment approval processes.
Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP)
(a) No.
(b-d) Not applicable.
(e) All payments made by DMP are not processed unless properly authorised by the appropriate delegated officer.
All requests to create a supplier or change bank account details require secondary validation through existing established contact details. This requirement incorporates the recent recommendation by the Department of Commerce regarding scams.
Minerals Research Institute of Western Australia (MRIWA)
(a) No.
(b-d) Not applicable.
(e) The MRIWA has rigourous controls in place to promote sound financial management. Policies and practices exist and are applied by all staff to avoid financial mismanagement.
Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC)
(a) No.
(b-d) Not applicable.
(e) The SBDC reviews all suspect emails captured in the spam filter, raising and reinforcing awareness of potential scams to all staff and reviewing and reinforcing payment approval processes.
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