A man - extradited from Western Australia – will face court today charged as part of an ongoing investigation into multiple shopping centre scams in across New South Wales.
In March 2026, officers attached to North West Metropolitan Region 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 were told a group of people worked together to allegedly steal 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 have received reports for 39 incidents from the South Coast to Grafton, and several suburbs across Sydney, with more than $100,000 in proceeds stolen.
Following extensive inquiries, on Wednesday (8 April 2026) a 38-year-old man was arrested at Perth Airport with the assistance of the Australian Federal Police and Western Australia Police.
The man appeared at court where investigators from the NWMR Enforcement Squad applied for, and were granted, his extradition to NSW.
The man was escorted to Sydney and taken to Mascot Police Station where he was charged with 18 offences including:
- Nine counts of dishonestly obtain financial advantage by deception,
- Six counts of steal from the person value less than or equal to $2000,
- Two counts of larceny.
- Steal from the person more than $2000 and less than or equal to $5000, and
- Shoplifting.
The man was refused bail to appear before Local Bail Division – Court 7 today (Saturday 11 April 2026).
Investigations under Strike Force Danube are ongoing.
