Two brothers in Sydney were granted bail this week after allegedly posing as bank workers to drain A$600,000 from an 88-year-old dementia patient, as authorities from Kenya to Malaysia reported a surge in complex impersonation frauds that combine psychological manipulation with technical intrusions.

Prosecutors allege that Jesse Mensah, 25, and George Mensah, 22, made unsolicited calls to the elderly man, persuaded him to hand over access to his bank accounts and then stripped him of his entire savings. Both men were released on condition of a A$100,000 property surety, daily police reporting and surrendered passports, according to New South Wales police. They have yet to enter a plea, and investigators say they are still searching for two other suspects believed to have benefited from the scam.

The Australian case coincides with a string of separate but structurally similar frauds across the Indo-Pacific region. In Marsabit, northern Kenya, detectives arrested eight people suspected of carrying out a SIM swap scam that drained more than Sh1.2 million from an M-Pesa agent’s account. The gang allegedly posed as ordinary customers to gain physical control of the agent’s SIM card, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations said. In the United Arab Emirates, Sharjah police foiled a network of seven Asian nationals who impersonated public officials and lured victims into downloading remote-access applications that gave the suspects full control of their phones, allowing them to steal funds and transfer them to accounts opened using the personal data of low-wage workers, according to the Criminal Investigation Department.

Warnings have also been issued in Indonesia and Malaysia. The public prosecutor’s office in Central Lombok urged residents to beware of fake WhatsApp accounts that misappropriate the photos of officials to request personal data and payments. Similarly, Malaysia’s anti-corruption commission disowned a man whose social media posts purported to show him as an MACC officer, warning that such impersonation is a criminal offence punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. The regional pattern, while not yet formally linked by investigators, underscores what consumer advocates describe as growing vulnerability among older citizens. In Australia, the Council on the Ageing reported that six in ten older people do not feel confident recognising a scam, with pressure to act immediately being a common thread. Police across jurisdictions urged the public to verify identities through official channels and never hand over devices or PINs to unknown callers. Investigations remain active in all cases, with further arrests expected.