Female ‘fraudster’, 39, is arrested after ‘pretending to be a bushfire victim to claim $300 donations from a church’
- A woman in South Australia allegedly falsely claimed to be a bushfire victim
- The 39-year-old woman is accused is trying to claim $300 in donations
- Unnamed woman charged with deception and to appear in court in February
A woman has been charged after she falsely claimed to be a bushfire victim to claim $300 in donations from a church, police allege.
The 39-year-old woman, who has not been named, is alleged to have told an Adelaide Hills church she was a victim of the Cudlee Creek blaze.
She is also accused of trying to deceive shops in the nearby town of Murray Bridge that she was a bushfire victim.
A woman has been charged after she falsely claimed to be a bushfire victim to claim $300 in donations from a church, police say
The accused fraudster was arrested on Friday and charged with deception.
She was bailed to appear in the Murray Bridge Magistrate’s Court in February.
The massive Cudlee Creek blaze to the east of Adelaide has destroyed more than 80 houses and claimed one life.
The bushfire remains active, but its severity has been downgraded.
The community has rallied their support behind those affected by the fire with donations of food, clothing, and other items being dropped off at collection points in the Adelaide Hills.
There have already been a number of reported cases of members of the public posing as firefighters.
Last week police also warned of phone scammers attempting to exploit the bushfire to scam the public.
Fire crosses Ridge Road at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills in Adelaide, Friday, December 20, 2019