News
19 February, 2026
WORLD EXCLUSIVE: Fraudster out of Gaol and allegedly on the run
Serial fraudster Samantha Azzopardi is out of gaol and on the run.
Serial fraudster Samantha Azzopardi is out of gaol and on the run.
Just days after being released from prison, she was allegedly caught on CCTV trying to defraud Centrelink, The Southern Wire has been told.
There are already warrants out for her arrest.
The Victorian Adult Parole Board last week refused to confirm whether or not Azzopardi had been released, but she has already been up to her old tricks.
She has allegedly been using the stolen identity of a Victorian woman to defraud the Australian Government.
She was allegedly caught on CCTV at a Centrelink branch in Darlinghurst, Sydney but has since disappeared.
Her whereabouts are unknown.
A Melbourne woman has told The Southern Wire that fraudster Azzopardi stole the identity of her partner – also named Samantha Azzopardi – and allegedly used private information in a bid to obtain Centrelink benefits and to access bank accounts that were not her own.
Literally days after being released from prison, Azzopardi was allegedly pleading her case for Centrelink benefits using the ‘real’ Samantha Azzopardi’s identity.
Melbourne resident Courtney Murphy told The Southern Wire that fraudster Azzopardi had been causing problems for her and her partner for years.
They are working with authorities in the hope Azzopardi will be brought to justice, but at this stage she is allegedly on the run and “nowhere to be found”.
The Southern Wire sought more information about Azzopardi after an unverified sighting of the notorious con artist in Bowral last November.
The Adult Parole Board refused to comment due to privacy provisions in the Corrections Act 1986.
However, Azzopardi watchers around the world are keen to let people know that she is free.
Her alleged victims from as far away as Ireland are doing their best to track her movements – unfortunately, without success beyond the Darlinghurst sighting.
Azzopardi has made headlines around the world, allegedly using more than 100 fake identities to pose as everything from Swedish royalty to a Russian gymnast.
She was sentenced to a two-year jail term in 2023 for defrauding two specialist family care providers in Australia while pretending to be a 17-year-old sex trafficking victim from Belgium.
She had previously been deported from Ireland after claiming to be a sex trafficking victim from Eastern Europe.
In Canada, she said she was a victim of sexual assault and torture.
In Australia, she has posed as a Russian gymnast and a schoolgirl half her age.
Azzopardi is from Campbelltown.
If you have more information, please contact Stuart on sc@thesouthernwire.com.au
Read More: Campbelltown, Southern Highlands, Wollondilly, Southern Tablelands