A man and woman will face court charged as part of an ongoing investigation into multiple shopping centre scams across New South Wales.
In March 2026, officers attached to the North West Metropolitan – Region Enforcement Squad established Strike Force Danube to investigate multiple reports of the scams occurring across the state between Wednesday 11 February and Thursday 23 March 2026.
Investigators identified members of a transnational serious organised crime network allegedly involved in stealing from multiple elderly people, particularly women, at shopping centres.
As part of the deception, one person in the group would allegedly approach the elderly person, claiming they had dropped cash or their wallet.
When the person opened their wallet to check, a second person in the group allegedly stole their bank cards, which were later used to conduct fraudulent transactions.
To date, police received reports for 34 incidents from the South Coast to Grafton, and several suburbs across Sydney, with more than $150,000 in proceeds stolen.
In April 2026, a 38-year-old man was extradited from Perth, where he was charged and has since appeared before the court.
Following extensive inquiries, yesterday (Tuesday 29 September 2026), a 49-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were arrested in Queensland.
North West Metropolitan Region Enforcement Squad, with the assistance of officers attached to Tweed/Byron Police District transported the man and woman to NSW where arrest warrants were executed.
They were charged with 24 offences including:
– Twelve counts of steal from the person vale less than $2000, and
– Twelve counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception
The man and woman were refused bail to appear before Bail Division Court 1 today (Wednesday 30 September 2026).
Inquiries under Strike Force Danube continue.
