Here is a summary of the latest police and emergency services news on the Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island.

Be warned of bill discount scam

Everyone wants to reduce their bills, but police warn of an emerging scam turning stolen credit card details into cash for scammers.

Scammers target their victims via social media or referral from previous victims.  They advise their target that they offer a service to pay off outstanding bills at a discount.  Unsuspecting victims test the service by providing one of their utility or other bills to the scammers.

The scammers use stolen credit card details to pay the bill in full.  The target does not know at this time that the credit card used was stolen; they can see that the amount owed has been paid and they can verify this with the issuer of the bill, independently of the scammers; they are confident at this stage that the service is legitimate.

The scammers then have the target pay the value of the ‘discounted’ bill as a cash deposit via ATM or bank counter, to a bank account controlled by the scammers.

The target happily pays the discounted amount (for example 80% of original bill value) via cash to the nominated account.  With confidence, they then find additional bills and take maximum advantage of this 'service' - having the scammers pay the full bill amounts and depositing the discounted cash payment to the bank account.  They may also refer the service to their family and friends with glowing recommendation.

Here's the catch; sometime later, the credit card company executes a chargeback to the utility company, reversing payment of bill settled using the stolen credit card.  At this time, the bill is reissued to the victim and they now realise they have been scammed.  They have lost the cash deposited to, and long withdrawn from, the scammer’s bank account while still owing the full amount for the bill.

South Australia Police remind the community to be suspicious if an offer seems too good to be true.  Do your due diligence and research the offer independent of the promoters, and avoid giving out your personal information over the phone or internet when you cannot determine the legitimacy of the contact.

If you have been the victim of this type of scam, you can report it at your local police station and online.

Gel blasters declared regulated imitation firearm

From 8 October 2020 gel blasters have been declared as a regulated imitation firearm.

People who own a gel blaster will have to register their gel blaster, obtain a firearms licence within six months, or surrender the gel blaster as part of a firearms amnesty. The amnesty will take place from today until 7 April 2021.

Officer in Charge Firearms Branch, Superintendent Stephen Howard says the declaration comes following investigations by police who have assessed gel blasters to be firearms as defined in the Firearms Act.

“The firing mechanism in a gel blaster compresses air to fire a projectile and therefore meets the threshold test to be defined as a firearm,” he says.

“A gel blaster can easily be mistaken for a real firearm, with potential to cause concern in the community and trigger a police response that could involve the use of police firearms, or other tactical options.”

SAPOL estimates more than 62,000 are circulating in the South Australian community.

These changes mean:

- It is an offence to possess a gel blaster without a licence.

- It is an offence to possess an unregistered gel blaster.

- The sale and possession of gel blasters becomes regulated.

- They will be subject to licencing and control. 

- If a person or business does not wish to become licenced then it will become illegal for them to sell or possess a gel blaster.

Details on how to apply for a firearms licence is available from the SAPOL website.

The Firearms Act contains a general amnesty, which can be utilised to surrender a gel blaster to police, additional amnesty conditions are in place for those gel blaster owners to obtain a firearms licence.