STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms BOELE (Bradfield) (13:36): Your phone rings; the caller claims to be from the Chinese police force. Their number matches the official number online. They have official-looking documents to prove that you're guilty of fraud.

They pass you between different callers, each person more 'official' and more intimidating. You panic, you get scared and you start complying with their demands. You hand over money.

And then it all turns out to be fake. Authority scams like these led to $12 million being lost in 2025, and the ACCC received 1,294 reports, with a median loss of $55,000. Scammers use sophisticated techniques mimicking real-life authorities and fabricating documents.

Put simply, they're very convincing. Bradfield is so multicultural. We're blessed to be home to people from China, India, Armenia, Korea, South Africa—so it's so disturbing to see scammers preying on our culturally and linguistically diverse communities like this.

Scams are devastating. They exploit people's instincts to be trustful, and they weaponise people's vulnerabilities as non-first-language-English speakers—but they target everyone, no matter whether their English-speaking ability can learn to defend against scams—and it's why I'm holding an event on 27 August to upskill our diverse community. You'll be hearing from NSW Police and Services Australia and about real-life experiences from members of the Chinese community in Bradfield.