At about 2am on Sunday, 19 April 2026, police arrested three Northern Beaches teenagers following a pursuit with a stolen car.
Police said they saw the stolen Ford Falcon Ute drive through a red light at the intersection of Barrenjoey Road near Seaview Avenue in Newport.
Police activated their sirens, but the Ford failed to stop and engaged police in a short pursuit.
The Ford collided with a timber fence on Bassett Street in Mona Vale and the three young male occupants ran from the scene.
Police chased and caught all three nearby.
The Ford was stolen from outside a Mona Vale home earlier in the evening.
The three boys were taken to Manly Police Station where a 14-year-old was charged with one count of ‘Taking a conveyance without consent of owner Section 154A’ and one count of ‘Police pursuit Section 51B NSW Crimes Act’.
The other 14-year-old and a 15-year-old boy were dealt with in accordance with the Young Offenders Act and cautioned for the offence of ‘Being carried in conveyance without consent of the owner’.
Home buyer tricked in email settlement scam
On 15 April 2026, a North Curl Curl resident received an e-mail with instructions on payment for an impending property settlement.
The email was compromised by a scammer who pretended to be the conveyancer engaged by the victim.
The scammer substituted their own bank account details, and the victim transferred $150,000 to the scammer’s account instead of the conveyancer’s.
The victim contacted her bank and confirmed that the funds had left her account. The matter was reported to the police and the banks involved, and steps are under way to recover the money.
Police explained that this type of fraud is known as ‘Business Email Compromise (BEC)’. Scammers pretend to be from a business used before and send you an invoice with new payee information. The aim is to get you to redirect a legitimate payment to a scammer. You think you are paying for the products or services you ordered, when really, you’re sending money to a scammer.
Scamwatch.gov.au lists tips on how to protect against BEC including:
- Stop and check any changes to payee information on invoices.
- Contact the business you normally deal with by phone using a number you have sourced independently.
- Check the email address. Scammers will sometimes add one extra letter or number to the email address, so you think you are dealing with the real business.
Operation Jackdaw 2026
Police targeted Dee Why and Narrabeen shopping precincts for theft and anti-social behaviour as part of Operation Jackdaw 2026.
Northern Beaches police carried out targeted searches of people in these shopping precincts, as well as bail checks and business inspections.
Police said they detected stealing, trespassing and graffiti, as well as drugs found on a young person who was cautioned.
Many people were issued with criminal infringements and court attendance notices, as well as, traffic fines.
Police confirmed that future operations are planned.
Computer trojan thwarted by sceptical Cromer woman
On 22 April 2026, an 81-year-old Cromer woman clicked on a Sudoku bookmark on her computer that appears to have been a trojan program.
A short time later, a message appeared with a contact number. She called the number, and a scammer warned that her computer was hacked and he intended to help.
The scammer said he had already cleared some scams and would help clear more. The scammer instructed her to activate her internet banking.
She told the scammer she was going to a neighbour to call her bank to verify the contact. The scammer protested; however, she persisted and alerted her bank, who froze her accounts. She took extra steps to protect herself and turned off her computer and internet modem.
No money was stolen, and she is getting her computer checked for malicious software.
Airtag leads police to stolen eBike
Between 6:00pm on Friday, 17 April 2026 and 1:00am the next day, an unknown person stole an eBike that was secured at Manly Wharf.
The 17-year-old Manly Vale owner reported the theft to Manly Police. The eBike was fitted with a tracker.
On Saturday morning, 18 April 2026, the parents of the teen attended a Werrington residence where they met with Penrith police who located the stolen eBike inside a bedroom.
Police questioned a 39-year-old man at the scene and issued him with a ‘Field Court Attendance Notice for Persons unlawfully in possession of property Section 527C NSW Crimes Act’. He was scheduled to appear at Penrith Local Court on 28 April 2026.
The eBike was recovered, and the tracker proved to be an effective investment.
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