Detectives from the Fraud and Extortion Squad have released CCTV and images of a woman they wish to speak to in relation to a scam where several hundred thousand dollars were stolen, Victoria Police say.
It’s believed the scam starts with the victim’s personal details being obtained and fraudulent identification being manufactured in the name of the victim.
This enables the offenders to do a number of things including re-directing mail from the victim’s address, ordering new bank cards and changing bank account details.
Between 11 and 26 April this year, a woman attended several eastern suburbs banks and ATM locations in suburbs including Doncaster East, Bulleen, Balwyn, Blackburn, Box Hill, Kew and Templestowe.
While at the banks, she used a fake Chinese passport to conduct a number of administrative changes.
On 24 April she attended a bank in Kew and transferred a significant amount of cash out of the victim’s account.
On 26 April she attended a different bank in Bulleen and attempted to transfer money from a second, separate victim’s account.
This second transaction was processed but subsequently reversed shortly after when the victim became aware and contacted the bank.
Detectives from the Fraud and Extortion Squad are investigating the incidents and have released CCTV of a woman they wish to speak to in relation to both matters.
Investigators are also urging people to be aware of the scam as it’s believed the victims are highly targeted.
On both occasions the victims, who are of Chinese heritage and live in the eastern suburbs, were overseas at the time of the offence.
The offenders had also managed to obtain their personal details, including date of birth, address and bank account data.
Offenders do not appear to be targeting customers of any specific bank, instead they appear to be targeting victims of Chinese background in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
Police are urging people to be aware of the scam and ensure any fraudulent activity is reported to police for investigation.
Anyone who notices any unusual transactions on their account should also speak to their bank.
This includes instances where you would regularly receive mail but haven’t for some time, or if you receive any letters from Australia Post regarding re-direction service that you haven’t authorised.
People should also be wary of unusual letters from organisations such as banks as this could be the pre-cursor to the scam occurring.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
