A woman has been charged over an alleged spiritual blessings scam that deliberately targeted Sydney’s Asian community.
Police have been investigating the alleged scam since April this year, and believe it has been operating across Sydney since July 2023.
The scam allegedly targets elderly Chinese women to “exploit their cultural fears” by telling them their families are at risk from spirits and they need to have their wealth blessed to protect them from curses or illness.
The women are deceived into handing over a bag of their valuables to be blessed, and once the alleged scammers have their money and jewellery, they swap them out for items of no value.
The women are then encouraged not to open the bag of valuables for an extended amount of time, as part of the blessing ritual.
NSW Police have received reports of over 80 incidents across Sydney, including in Ryde, Burwood, Parramatta and Hornsby, with more than $3 million in cash and valuables allegedly stolen.
Investigations into the alleged scam led police to arrest a 63-year-old woman at Sydney International Airport at 7.15pm yesterday, with the help of the AFP.
Police will allege that the woman defrauded a 77-year-old woman out of a large sum of money and jewellery at Parramatta last month.
She was taken to Mascot Police Station and charged with dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, participating in a criminal group and other stealing offences.
The woman was refused bail and will appear in Parramatta Local Court today.
