Police warn of authority scams targeting Sydney multicultural communities

SYDNEY, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Police in Sydney have issued a warning over authority scams targeting multicultural communities, with some victims reporting losses of thousands of dollars.

The police force in the state of New South Wales (NSW) said in a statement on Thursday that the scams appear to be targeting multicultural communities, including the Chinese, Vietnamese and Indian communities across Sydney.

It said that victims have reported receiving calls from a person claiming to be an official from an embassy or police force, who subsequently tells the victim that their passport and personal information were found on a person recently arrested overseas.

The perpetrator then tells the victim that they could be deported to face criminal offenses overseas unless they pay an amount of money.

Some victims reported losses exceeding 50,000 Australian dollars (35,385 U.S. dollars), the NSW Police Force said.

Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Smith from the NSW Police Force Cybercrime Squad urged anyone who receives such calls to hang up and report them immediately. Enditem