Canonical URL: https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/nsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney/ --- description: An October 15 alert describes callers posing as medical staff or friends, and highlights multilingual reporting support after three September incidents. title: NSW Police warn of gift-card impersonation scams across Sydney image: https://giftcard.news/images/social/v1/nsw-police-warn-gift-card-impersonation-scams-across-sydney-7c335fef912eaa344575f3fdcf9a1600.jpg --- 1. [Home](https://giftcard.news/) 2. [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) # NSW Police warn of gift-card impersonation scams across Sydney An October 15 alert describes callers posing as medical staff or friends, and highlights multilingual reporting support after three September incidents. By [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 14, 2026 4 min read [ Google News ](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=giftcard.news&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=NSW+Police+warn+of+gift-card+impersonation+scams+across+Sydney&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=NSW+Police+warn+of+gift-card+impersonation+scams+across+Sydney+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Two NSW Police officers speaking with a member of the public](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/nsw-police-warn-gift-card-impersonation-scams-across-sydney-two-officers-speaking-w760.webp) NSW Police officers in an official NSW Government photograph. This is an agency image, not a photograph of the gift-card incidents described in the October 15 warning. Photo: NSW Government [NSW Police Force](https://giftcard.news/organization/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. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) 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. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) 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. [\[S01\]](#article-source-1) The data behind the story ### 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 AUD, approximately Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table. 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 Your free reader account ## Continue reading for free. Create your account or sign in to get unlimited access. Continue with LinkedIn Continue with Google Continue with Facebook No payment required. Newsletter signup is optional. [Already registered? Sign in](https://giftcard.news/login/?returnTo=%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F) ## In this article ### People * [Matthew Craft](https://giftcard.news/person/matthew-craft/) ### Organizations * [NSW Police Force](https://giftcard.news/organization/nsw-police-force/) ### Sources and documents * [\[S01\] October 15 police warning, reported incidents and reporting guidance](https://ebizprd.police.nsw.gov.au/media/129165.html?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — NSW Police Force * [\[S02\] Targeting Scams 2025: language reporting, loss medians and methodology](https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/system/files/targeting-scams-report-2025.pdf?utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news) — National Anti-Scam Centre / ACCC Share [ ](https://x.com/intent/post?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dx%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&text=NSW+Police+warn+of+gift-card+impersonation+scams+across+Sydney&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "X") [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "LinkedIn") [ ](https://wa.me/?text=NSW+Police+warn+of+gift-card+impersonation+scams+across+Sydney+https%3A%2F%2Fgiftcard.news%2Ffraud-security%2Fnsw-police-gift-card-impersonation-scams-sydney%2F%3Futm%5Fsource%3Dwhatsapp%26utm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial&utm%5Fsource=giftcard.news&utm%5Fcampaign=giftcard.news "WhatsApp") ![Portrait of Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/images/variants/v1/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait-w320.webp) About the author ## [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News. From reading to building ## Your next move in gift cards. Tell us what you’re building. We’ll help you explore suitable providers. [Find a provider ](https://giftcard.news/find-a-provider/) ## Related articles [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) News ### [giftee Group estimates JPY 550 million loss after unauthorized e-gift issuance](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/giftee-unauthorized-egift-issuance-estimated-loss-2026/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 26, 2026 3 min [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) News ### [San Francisco settlement creates $1.525 million Vanilla gift-card fund](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/san-francisco-vanilla-gift-card-restitution-fund/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 23, 2026 4 min [Fraud & Security](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/) News ### [Valuedesign reports card-data leak as MOS resets PINs](https://giftcard.news/fraud-security/valuedesign-value-card-data-leak-mos-card-2026/) [Daniel Brooks](https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/) October 23, 2026 4 min ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher","name":"Gift Card News","url":"https://giftcard.news/","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/icon-512.png","width":512,"height":512,"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#logo"},"publishingPrinciples":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/","correctionsPolicy":"https://giftcard.news/editorial-policy/"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://giftcard.news/#website","url":"https://giftcard.news/","name":"Gift Card News","description":"News and analysis covering gift cards, retail, loyalty, rewards and payments worldwide.","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://giftcard.news/#publisher"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":"https://giftcard.news/search/?q={search_term_string}","query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/#person","name":"Daniel Brooks","url":"https://giftcard.news/author/daniel-brooks/","description":"Daniel Brooks covers payment networks, financial technology, payment security, gift card fraud and PCI DSS for Gift Card News.","jobTitle":"Journalist — Payments, Security & PCI DSS","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp","width":1254,"height":1254,"caption":"Illustrated portrait representing the Daniel Brooks editorial profile.","@id":"https://giftcard.news/images/daniel-brooks-editorial-portrait.webp#image","encodingFormat":"image/webp","description":"Illustrated portrait for Daniel Brooks, a Gift Card News editorial pen name","creditText":"Gift Card News / AI-generated illustration"}},{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://giftcard.news/images/nsw-police-warn-gift-card-impersonation-scams-across-sydney-two-officers-speaking.webp","contentUrl":"https://giftcard.news/images/nsw-police-warn-gift-card-impersonation-scams-across-sydney-two-officers-speaking.webp","width":760,"height":440,"caption":"NSW Police officers in an official NSW Government photograph. 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