The warning brings together three September incidents under investigation by separate police commands. It is a new public alert about those earlier reports; police did not announce an arrest, a recovery of funds or the identity of any gift-card issuer.

Trusted identities used to obtain redemption codes

In one case, police say a woman received a message on September 22 from someone claiming to be an optometrist and confirming an appointment for the next day. A subsequent call instructed her to buy gift cards from a post office and send photographs and PINs. The disclosed codes represented cards worth approximately A$7,000, according to the alert. Ryde officers began inquiries. [S01]

A second case involved a September 11 call from a person allegedly posing as an old friend. Police say the recipient bought supermarket gift cards worth about A$9,000 and passed on their PINs. Auburn officers were notified.

The third report concerned a man who had a doctor's appointment scheduled for September 29 and received a call from someone claiming to be that doctor. He bought approximately A$9,000 in cards and sent codes representing about A$7,000 before family members intervened. St George officers began an investigation. The purchased value and the value of codes sent are different figures in this case. [S01]

AUD, approximately

Source

NSW Police, October 15 advisory

Police-reported approximate amounts; no issuer-level breakdown, confirmed recovery, arrest or population prevalence is established.

Show data tableHide data table

Scroll left or right to see all columns

Approximate value of gift-card codes disclosed in three reports (AUD, approximately)
Category	Reported value
Ryde investigation	7,000 AUD, approximately
Auburn investigation	9,000 AUD, approximately
St George investigation	7,000 AUD, approximately

Across the reports, the common step was the transfer of a code after a retail

NSW Police Force issued a warning on October 15 about gift-card scams targeting Sydney's multicultural communities, particularly the Chinese community. The alert describes callers and messages impersonating medical staff or an old friend before directing people to buy gift cards and disclose their redemption codes. [S01] The warning brings together three September incidents under investigation by separate police commands. It is a new public alert about those earlier reports; police did not announce an arrest, a recovery of funds or the identity of any gift-card issuer. Trusted identities used to obtain redemption codes In one case, police say a woman received a message on September 22 from someone claiming to be an optometrist and confirming an appointment for the next day. A subsequent call instructed her to buy gift cards from a post office and send photographs and PINs. The disclosed codes represented cards worth approximately A$7,000, according to the alert. Ryde officers began inquiries. [S01] A second case involved a September 11 call from a person allegedly posing as an old friend. Police say the recipient bought supermarket gift cards worth about A$9,000 and passed on their PINs. Auburn officers were notified. The third report concerned a man who had a doctor's appointment scheduled for September 29 and received a call from someone claiming to be that doctor. He bought approximately A$9,000 in cards and sent codes representing about A$7,000 before family members intervened. St George officers began an investigation. The purchased value and the value of codes sent are different figures in this case. [S01] Approximate value of gift-card codes disclosed in three reports The October 15 police alert describes three separate September incidents. The chart uses codes disclosed, not all cards purchased. Reported value Ryde investigation: 7000 AUD, approximately Auburn investigation: 9000 AUD, approximately St George investigation: 7000 AUD, approximately Police-reported approximate amounts; no issuer-level breakdown, confirmed recovery, arrest or population prevalence is established. NSW Police, October 15 advisory Across the reports, the common step was the transfer of a code after a retail

Your free reader account