Australia: Police Busts Group Involved in Scamming Elderly People

A couple, allegedly involved in scamming elderly people was arrested and is expecting trial in New South Wales, Australia. While police authorities initially thought that the mastermind behind the criminal activities was a 36-year-old woman, they later found that she was a victim of domestic violence, while her husband allegedly spent ill-gained money on gambling.

As announced by the Sydney Morning Herald, a lengthy investigation resulted in the arrest of a woman with the initials K.B.A. She was thought to be the organizer of a criminal group that was involved in scamming primarily old people. However, upon further investigation, her husband with the initials S.K. was also detained. S.K. reportedly tried to flee the country and was arrested at Sydney Airport.

The 36-year-old woman was arrested after her name kept appearing on different accounts related to sportsbooks, including Unibet, Ladbrokes and PointsBet, among others. NSW’s Strike Force Artal police unit was investigating a large-scale scamming operation that involved taking money from elderly people, depositing it into “mule” accounts and then transferring them to third-party accounts or withdrawing them. Overall, some AU$2 million ($1.3 million) was spent on sports betting, including wagering on different events and horse racing, police authorities claim.

After K.B.A. was arrested it was uncovered that the woman was allegedly forced to create different web accounts that her husband later used for gambling. S.K. allegedly had a “crippling gambling problem” and used the funds obtained from different scams to gamble online. Law enforcement claims that he was the mastermind of an elaborate criminal group that targeted elderly people. The couple did not act alone as three other individuals allegedly involved in the criminal activities are also about to face trial.

Scamming the Elderly

Upon investigating, police uncovered nearly 20 alleged victims of the scamming group. One 72-year-old resident of Queensland lost some AU$28,000 ($17,700), while another lost AU$39,000 ($24,600). Additionally, an 82-year-old from Tasmania lost AU$17,800 ($11,200), while another elderly person was scammed with AU$7,500 ($4,700).

An 82-year-old man also lost some AU$29,000 ($18,300). Living in a retirement home in South Australia, the person granted the scammers access to his bank account which resulted in the theft of the hefty sum.

The investigation is ongoing and more individuals involved in the group may be arrested. It is yet to be determined what penalty the culprits involved in the scam may face.