The pair, both aged 37, are accused of orchestrating a mass text message scam, which directed victims to fake websites for the purpose of stealing money and identity information.
On March 23, police conducted a raid on a Southport residence on the Gold Coast, where two Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) boxes and a number of SIM cards were located.
SIM boxes are devices which are capable of sending bulk text messages across the Australian telecommunications network.
It’s alleged the SIM boxes had been used to send 1.7 million toll-related scam messages pretending to be from legitimate organisations over a two-week period in February.
As a result of subsequent investigations, a man and a woman were arrested at the same Southport address on April 18.
The pair, who are Chinese nationals, have both been charged with obtaining or dealing with identification information and using a telecommunications network with the intention to facilitate the commission of a serious offence.
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They are expected to appear in Southport Magistrates Court today.
Queensland Police has advised residents to delete messages received from unknown senders, not to click on links sent via text messages or emails and to never send money to a web page or company that originated from a text message.
“If it is too good to be true, then it probably is,” Queensland Police said.
