Northern Beaches Police are seeking public assistance in identifying several people as they investigate a number of local crimes this week.
First, police are investigating reports of incidents involving young people at North Narrabeen. If you have any further information on the person below, please contact Dee Why police station on 99713399 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 quoting C102276676.
Police are asking seeking assistance from the below person in relation to an assault that occurred on 9 May 2026 at Bucketty’s Brewing Co. in Brookvale.
If this is you, or you know who it is, contact Dee Why Police Station on 02 9971 3399, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 quoting E413070696.
In other crime news, Northern Beaches Police reported several scammers using different methods to steal money from residents. Unfortunately, two were successful, while one, luckily, was not.
ANZ Bank impersonator scams $200K
On 7 May 2026, a man from Whale Beach received a text message about fraudulent transactions on his account.
Soon after a scammer called him and offered to fix the issues (which was false).
The scammer provided snippets of information that seemed credible and was able to convince the victim to grant the scammer personal information.
The scammer stole over $200,000 from the victim’s account and transferred funds overseas. The victim reported the incident to the bank, which froze the victim’s account to stop further fraud.
The matter was also reported to police, and inquiries will be made to trace the stolen funds; however, police said funds transferred overseas are seldom retrieved.
Scammers steal $30K from elderly gentleman
In April 2026, scammers targeted an elderly Belrose man and persuaded him to grant them remote access to his mobile phone and computer.
Police said it was unclear how they identified the man; however, the ruse started with phone contact by a person claiming to be from a Swiss bank facilitating the release of money to the victim.
The victim believed the story and granted the scammers remote access to his phone and computer.
The scammers withdrew over $30,000 from the victim’s Australian bank account and transferred it to overseas accounts.
The matter was reported to the victim’s bank and Northern Beaches Police.
For victims of fraud, police recommend they register with idcare.org which is a free service supporting people dealing with scams and identity theft.
And the lucky one, who almost lost $600K
On 11 May 2026, a woman from Killarney Heights received an email purporting to be from her lawyer with instructions on the settlement of a property purchase.
She was about to buy a property, and the email directed her to pay almost $600,000 to an account.
She detected a slight variation in the lawyer’s email address and became suspicious. She phoned her lawyer and confirmed that the email was fake. She did not transfer any money.
Police said this type of fraud is known as Business Email Compromise and it primarily involves the hacking of emails and using private information to trick people into sending money to scammers.
A good precaution is to periodically change passwords for email and online accounts, taking care to use strong password combinations. It is also good practice to phone and check with a recipient before transferring them large sums of money.
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