When the fraudsters bring down the network with an axe

Much of western Sydney (Australia) was without telephone and internet last weekend and the reasons have come to light.  In an attempt to take out the EFTPOS network to carry out fraudulent manual transactions, criminals cut the wires to what they thought was a suburban Westfield shopping centre, unwittingly cutting internet and landline phones for hundreds of businesses and more than 10,000 homes.  This just the latest of half a dozen such incidents suspected of being carried out by a 'criminal gang' dressed in safety vests. 

Just the sort of thing you need to happen at Christmas, at least you'd have an excuse for forgetting a present. The actual costs to the businesses and citizens is hard to calculate, but lets hope it doesn't catch on. Mobile transactions would have still been possible, but in this latest case the crooks missed the EFTPOS cables completely.