SYDNEY, July 4 (Xinhua) -- Sydney police have issued a warning over spiritual blessing scams deliberately targeting the city's Asian community after making an arrest on Thursday.
The police force in the Australian state of New South Wales said on Friday that a strike force established in April to investigate spiritual blessing scams carried out across Sydney since July 2023 arrested a 63-year-old woman at the Sydney International Airport on Thursday.
The woman has been charged with dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, contributing to criminal activity and demanding property with intent to steal. It will be alleged in court that she was involved in defrauding a 77-year-old woman of a large sum of money and jewellery in June.
Police said that there have been over 80 reported incidents of such scams being carried out across Sydney since 2023, with over 3 million Australian dollars (1.9 million U.S. dollars) in cash and valuables stolen.
The scams generally target elderly Chinese women, who were convinced by offenders that their families are at risk from spirits and must have their wealth blessed to protect them from curses or illness.
Once perpetrators are in possession of a victim's money and valuables, the items are swapped with items of no value, which are then handed to the victims in a bag that they are encouraged not to open for an extended time.
Police advised the Sydney community to beware of strangers seeking access to money and valuables, not to bring strangers into their homes and not to put money or valuables into a bag for any blessing ritual. ■