By Paul Hemsley and Julian Bajkowski

The Australian Crime Commission’s (ACC) has followed hot on the heels of the Australian Federal Police as the latest security agency to become the target of a brazen online scam that hits unwitting computer users with fake correspondence that brandishes an hijacked official logo as bait to steal funds.

In a warning to the public released just a week after a similar bulletin from the AFP, the nation’s most powerful police have been taunted by crooks sending trick emails purporting to be from ACC chief executive John Lawler

The criminals tell prospective they will receive US$5 million in return for their money.

The ACC says it is the second time in the past month that it has been alerted to a scam using its name to “rip off” people.

The sting is part of a larger unfolding scam that has hijacked official Australian law enforcement and intelligence agency logos and emblems to swindle customers, an unwelcome challenge for agencies because of the confusion it causes the public as to what may be real or bogus communications.

The scams have also forced federal law enforcement agencies to reassure the public that they never ask the public for money.

The ACC said that it is aware of a number of scams using its name and logo to lure people into paying thousands of dollars into fraudulent bank accounts.

The elite crime fighting unit is also keen to highlight it keeps esteemed company when it comes to having its livery lifted by extra-legal entrepreneurs. In its statement it names a scam using the moniker of domestic spy agency the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) that attempts to trick people into paying large sums of money for fake criminal background checks.

According to the ACC, criminals were initiating these fake criminal background checks using dating websites.