Police claim alleged $1.4m bank card fraud just tip of iceberg

A postal worker and 2 others person been charged complete an alleged $1.4 cardinal slope paper fraud strategy but constabulary declare nan number of victims and nan magnitude of money stolen could summation dramatically.

They person issued a informing for group surviving successful respective Sydney suburbs to cheque their slope accounts.

Postal worker Mauro Coluzzi, 56, is accused of stealing letters containing slope cards during nan postal tally successful immoderate of nan city's astir able suburbs. 

The Australia Post worker and 2 others, Ashish Tamrakar and Ibrahim Abbas, were charged pursuing 5 constabulary raids successful Rockdale and Roselands from astir 4am connected Wednesday.

"By removing that personification from nan postal work we've trim nan caput disconnected nan snake," Detective Acting Inspector Con Galea alleged.

Police allege Coluzzi took astatine slightest 70 slope cards from customers successful Edgecliff, Woollahra and Double Bay and supplied them to 2 abstracted organised crime syndicates successful Rockdale.

The fraud allegedly siphoned much than $1.4 cardinal from customers' slope accounts to bargain designer bags, shoes and watches, which were each seized on pinch vapes, cigarettes and cash. 

The alleged method was not complex, pinch Coluzzi allegedly simply emotion envelopes until uncovering 1 containing a card.

"Australia Post person been very cooperative pinch constabulary and they're doing their ain soul investigations looking astatine vulnerabilities wrong their system," Galea said

Police deliberation this is conscionable nan extremity of nan iceberg.

They're moving pinch Australia Post and respective banks to find really galore group are impacted and judge it could beryllium respective hundred. 

"We had to interject now to extremity nan offending and past we'll activity backwards," Galea alleged.

"We expect nan worth of $1.4 cardinal to summation dramatically."

Coluzzi was charged pinch 143 fraud-related offences and nan different 2 were besides facing aggregate charges. 

All 3 were refused bail and appeared successful tribunal yesterday.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay crossed each nan latest successful breaking news, sport, authorities and nan upwind via our news app and get notifications sent consecutive to your smartphone. Available connected the Apple App Store and Google Play.