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Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking

Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking

Scoop10 hours ago

New data reveals one in four cigarettes consumed in Australia originates from the black market a direct consequence of the worlds highest tobacco taxes and restrictive vaping policies.
The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today condemned Australia's tobacco control strategy as a 'public health failure' that prioritises ideology over evidence, fuelling a A$6.3 billion illicit tobacco market while adult smoking rates remain stagnant.
New data reveals one in four cigarettes consumed in Australia originates from the black market — a direct consequence of the world's highest tobacco taxes and restrictive vaping policies.
CAPHRA argues this crisis exposes the fatal flaw in Australia's approach: prohibition without offering safer alternatives drives consumers to criminal networks rather than reducing harm. 'Australia's tobacco policy doesn't pass the pub test. Sky-high cigarette prices haven't made people quit—they've made criminals rich,' said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator.
'The government's own figures show smoking rates flatlined at 11% since 2019 despite taxing a pack to A$50. Meanwhile, organised crime syndicates pocket A$2.3 billion annually in evaded excise, funding drug trafficking and violent turf wars.'
Australia's illicit tobacco trade has surged by 46% since 2020, with over 800,000 smuggled cigarettes intercepted monthly at airports. Criminal syndicates increasingly exploit international travellers, while fire bombings of non-compliant retailers exceed 220 incidents since 2023.
'This isn't just about lost tax revenue—it's about community safety,' Loucas noted. 'Melbourne's 'tobacco war' has seen shops torched and innocent bystanders endangered. The government transformed a health issue into a national security crisis by ignoring basic economics: punitive taxes without alternatives breed black markets.'
Compounding the issue, Australia's harsh vaping restrictions have pushed nicotine consumers toward unregulated products. Despite prescription-only access, 1.5 million Australians vape daily—87% sourcing devices illegally.
CAPHRA contrasts Australia's approach with New Zealand, which halved smoking rates to 6% by legalising vaping and rejecting generational bans. 'New Zealand taxed tobacco heavily but gave smokers a ladder to climb down: affordable, regulated vapes. Australia took away the ladder and wondered why people kept smoking,' said Loucas.
Pippa Starr, Director of Australia's ALIVE Advocacy Movement, added: 'The evidence is unequivocal: illicit trade has doubled since 2020, vaping restrictions fuel a A$2.3 billion black market, and smoking rates haven't budged. This isn't harm reduction—it's a policy failure that sacrifices public health for moral posturing.'
'Australia's strategy is a moralistic crusade, not public health. It's time to abandon prohibitionist dogma before more lives are lost to crime and complacency,'

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Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking
Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking

Scoop

time10 hours ago

  • Scoop

Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking

New data reveals one in four cigarettes consumed in Australia originates from the black market a direct consequence of the worlds highest tobacco taxes and restrictive vaping policies. The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today condemned Australia's tobacco control strategy as a 'public health failure' that prioritises ideology over evidence, fuelling a A$6.3 billion illicit tobacco market while adult smoking rates remain stagnant. New data reveals one in four cigarettes consumed in Australia originates from the black market — a direct consequence of the world's highest tobacco taxes and restrictive vaping policies. CAPHRA argues this crisis exposes the fatal flaw in Australia's approach: prohibition without offering safer alternatives drives consumers to criminal networks rather than reducing harm. 'Australia's tobacco policy doesn't pass the pub test. Sky-high cigarette prices haven't made people quit—they've made criminals rich,' said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator. 'The government's own figures show smoking rates flatlined at 11% since 2019 despite taxing a pack to A$50. Meanwhile, organised crime syndicates pocket A$2.3 billion annually in evaded excise, funding drug trafficking and violent turf wars.' Australia's illicit tobacco trade has surged by 46% since 2020, with over 800,000 smuggled cigarettes intercepted monthly at airports. Criminal syndicates increasingly exploit international travellers, while fire bombings of non-compliant retailers exceed 220 incidents since 2023. 'This isn't just about lost tax revenue—it's about community safety,' Loucas noted. 'Melbourne's 'tobacco war' has seen shops torched and innocent bystanders endangered. The government transformed a health issue into a national security crisis by ignoring basic economics: punitive taxes without alternatives breed black markets.' Compounding the issue, Australia's harsh vaping restrictions have pushed nicotine consumers toward unregulated products. Despite prescription-only access, 1.5 million Australians vape daily—87% sourcing devices illegally. CAPHRA contrasts Australia's approach with New Zealand, which halved smoking rates to 6% by legalising vaping and rejecting generational bans. 'New Zealand taxed tobacco heavily but gave smokers a ladder to climb down: affordable, regulated vapes. Australia took away the ladder and wondered why people kept smoking,' said Loucas. Pippa Starr, Director of Australia's ALIVE Advocacy Movement, added: 'The evidence is unequivocal: illicit trade has doubled since 2020, vaping restrictions fuel a A$2.3 billion black market, and smoking rates haven't budged. This isn't harm reduction—it's a policy failure that sacrifices public health for moral posturing.' 'Australia's strategy is a moralistic crusade, not public health. It's time to abandon prohibitionist dogma before more lives are lost to crime and complacency,'

Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking
Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking

Scoop

time12 hours ago

  • Scoop

Australia's Anti-Smoking Push Fuels Crime, Fails To Curb Smoking

The Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA) today condemned Australia's tobacco control strategy as a 'public health failure' that prioritises ideology over evidence, fuelling a A$6.3 billion illicit tobacco market while adult smoking rates remain stagnant. New data reveals one in four cigarettes consumed in Australia originates from the black market — a direct consequence of the world's highest tobacco taxes and restrictive vaping policies. CAPHRA argues this crisis exposes the fatal flaw in Australia's approach: prohibition without offering safer alternatives drives consumers to criminal networks rather than reducing harm. 'Australia's tobacco policy doesn't pass the pub test. Sky-high cigarette prices haven't made people quit—they've made criminals rich,' said Nancy Loucas, CAPHRA Executive Coordinator. 'The government's own figures show smoking rates flatlined at 11% since 2019 despite taxing a pack to A$50. Meanwhile, organised crime syndicates pocket A$2.3 billion annually in evaded excise, funding drug trafficking and violent turf wars.' Australia's illicit tobacco trade has surged by 46% since 2020, with over 800,000 smuggled cigarettes intercepted monthly at airports. Criminal syndicates increasingly exploit international travellers, while fire bombings of non-compliant retailers exceed 220 incidents since 2023. 'This isn't just about lost tax revenue—it's about community safety,' Loucas noted. 'Melbourne's 'tobacco war' has seen shops torched and innocent bystanders endangered. The government transformed a health issue into a national security crisis by ignoring basic economics: punitive taxes without alternatives breed black markets.' Compounding the issue, Australia's harsh vaping restrictions have pushed nicotine consumers toward unregulated products. Despite prescription-only access, 1.5 million Australians vape daily—87% sourcing devices illegally. CAPHRA contrasts Australia's approach with New Zealand, which halved smoking rates to 6% by legalising vaping and rejecting generational bans. 'New Zealand taxed tobacco heavily but gave smokers a ladder to climb down: affordable, regulated vapes. Australia took away the ladder and wondered why people kept smoking,' said Loucas. Pippa Starr, Director of Australia's ALIVE Advocacy Movement, added: 'The evidence is unequivocal: illicit trade has doubled since 2020, vaping restrictions fuel a A$2.3 billion black market, and smoking rates haven't budged. This isn't harm reduction—it's a policy failure that sacrifices public health for moral posturing.' 'Australia's strategy is a moralistic crusade, not public health. It's time to abandon prohibitionist dogma before more lives are lost to crime and complacency,'

Fake CAPTCHA scam targets 2,353 WordPress sites, warns CyberCX
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Techday NZ

time6 days ago

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Fake CAPTCHA scam targets 2,353 WordPress sites, warns CyberCX

CyberCX has issued a warning to Australians regarding a phishing campaign targeting WordPress websites through the use of fake CAPTCHA prompts. The campaign, referred to as DarkEngine, involves threat actors embedding fraudulent CAPTCHA prompts into legitimate WordPress sites, putting website users at risk of various types of malware, including information stealers and remote access tools. According to CyberCX, at least 2,353 unique websites have been identified as likely compromised by this campaign, with 82 of these belonging to organisations in Australia and New Zealand. Within Australia, the affected websites are predominantly small to medium-sized businesses, spanning a range of sectors from strip clubs to educational platforms for children. The DarkEngine campaign employs a multi-layered approach. Initially, the perpetrator creates convincing replicas of WP Engine, a management tool widely used by businesses to oversee their WordPress websites. By leveraging a technique known as search engine optimisation (SEO) poisoning, the threat actor is able to position fake WP Engine links above legitimate ones in Google search results. As a result, genuine WP Engine login credentials from website administrators can be harvested and subsequently used to take control of the affected websites to inject fake CAPTCHA prompts. The campaign's intention is to reach the vast number of visitors to these compromised websites, exposing them to the risk of malware infection through socially engineered prompts. Katherine Mansted, Executive Director of CyberCX Intelligence, commented on the sophistication of the campaign: "This threat actor is a savvy, highly capable and well-resourced financially-motivated criminal. They are operating a scaled operation here, gaining access to thousands of real websites and infecting them with malware that hits unsuspecting internet users. "Fake CAPTCHA is an increasingly common technique criminals use to infect Australians' computers with malware. They look similar to real CAPTCHAs – a way to test whether a website visitor is a real person or a bot – but prompt the unsuspecting user to run malicious commands, potentially allowing criminals to gain remote access to their computers. "Never follow a CAPTCHA command that requires you to copy and paste text and be vigilant for any unexpected downloads after completing a CAPTCHA. Along with unusual URLs, pop-ups and poorly designed CAPTCHA formats, these are the tell-tail signs of a fake CAPTCHA." The fraudulent CAPTCHA prompts associated with DarkEngine are described as a variation of ClickFix, a social engineering tactic aimed at manipulating users into executing malicious instructions. These techniques have connections to activities used by recognised financially motivated cyber crime groups. CyberCX Intelligence has stated that it has been reaching out to organisations whose websites have been affected as part of an effort to improve the security of digital communities. The organisation has provided several recommendations for website administrators and organisations. WP Engine administrators are advised to audit account activity logs for unexpected logins, particularly those originating from unfamiliar proxy services and VPNs. WordPress site administrators should check for any signs of unexpected plugins, content injections within theme files, and successful requests containing keywords such as "emergency_login", "check_plugin", and "urlchange". Additionally, CyberCX stresses the importance of educating staff about ClickFix techniques, such as fake CAPTCHA, and the risks posed by SEO manipulation potentially leading them to engage with malicious sites. Organisations are also encouraged to consider providing reputable password managers to staff, which can help alert users if the site they are visiting is not legitimate.

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