High-tech scam in a Sydney casino: $1.2 million stolen
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6 Dec 2025 •
Reading time: 3 minutes A couple from Kazakhstan is at the centre of one of the most sophisticated fraud scandals seen recently in the casino world. At Crown Sydney, Dilnoza Israilova and Alisherykhoja Israilov devised a complex scheme involving hidden electronics, secret coordination and exploitation of surveillance loopholes.
A discreet arrival… for a colossal jackpot
According to investigators, the couple arrived in Sydney in October 2025, and on the same day, they registered at Crown Sydney in the Barangaroo district.
Over the following weeks, the visitors played numerous card games. But their sudden and repeated success, with significant winnings, quickly aroused the suspicion of the casino’s surveillance teams. The total winnings attributed to the duo amounted to nearly 1.2 million Australian dollars (almost 700,000 euros), an unusual amount for new registrants.
The key to the scheme was a set of high-tech accessories that were concealed almost invisibly. One day, a casino employee spotted a small camera attached to Ms Israilova’s top, while she wore a seemingly innocuous Mickey Mouse T-shirt. According to the authorities, the couple also had magnetised probes, a handmade mirror adapted for a mobile phone, and phones whose camera function had been hijacked. These devices allowed them to capture live images of the gaming tables.
But that’s not all: to turn these images into winnings, the two accomplices communicated in real time via discreet earpieces — implanted deep inside their bodies — through which they received precise instructions on which bets to place. The card reader was no longer a human talent, but a masked, coordinated duo, armed with gadgets. Thus, every card drawn and every bet placed became the subject of an invisible calculation, orchestrated from within. It was a virtually undetectable form of cheating.
The fall: suspicion, arrest, search and charges
On Thursday 27 November, suspicion turned to arrest. Casino staff, alerted by a series of wins deemed suspicious, spotted the camera on Ms Israilova’s clothing. The New South Wales Crime Squad, via the Casino & Racing Unit, intervened on site. The couple were taken to Day Street Police Station and charged with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. During the search, investigators seized all the accessories used: modified phones, a phone mirror, magnetised probes and batteries. They also found luxury items and €2,000 in cash.
The two suspects appeared before the Bail Division of the local court and were denied bail. According to the available court schedules, Mr Israilov is due to return to court on 11 December, while Ms Israilova is scheduled to appear in February 2026.
As a police official stated, this case demonstrates that collaboration between the police and casinos is essential to preserving the integrity of gaming. But in the future, it will undoubtedly be necessary to go further — with stronger legislation, high-tech surveillance and increased training — to prevent such fraud from becoming the norm.