The story of the GPO Girl who tricked Gardaí into thinking she was a child kidnap victim has been turned into a true-crime series on Paramount+. 

In 2013, Australian Samantha Azzopardi arrived in Ireland to visit a family friend in Tipperary. 

Afterwards, she travelled to Dublin where Gardaí found her in a state of distress outside the GPO. 

She refused to speak and Gardaí concluded she was 14-years-old and a possible victim of trafficking. 

They launched an investigation and appealed to the public for information; it was then that Azzopardi’s family friend in Tipperary recognised her. 

Gardaí contacted the Australian Police and they were informed she was a compulsive liar and had a criminal record from her multiple scams. 

“That’s when the game was up and [Gardaí realised] she was not a 14-year-old girl who was potentially a victim of being kidnapped, she was actually a 25-year-old backpacker from Australia,” Andrew Farrell, Executive Producer of ‘Con Girl’, told Moncreiff. 

“She had wasted a lot of time, she had wasted a lot of money, she’d pissed a lot of people off but I don’t think the Gardaí would do anything differently. 

“I think the Gardaí investigated it entirely the correct way - you have to believe people when they [behave like] that.

“But in the end, she hadn’t broken any laws so they put her on the first plane home and off she went back to Australia to continue her offending.” 

05/11/2013. Operation Shepard. Photo: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

It is not known how many times Azzopardi has created a fictitious identity but Mr Farrell says they are aware of at least 75 incidents and this is most likely the “tip of the iceberg”. 

“She’s just continually doing this and she often has three or four identities on the go at one time - she’ll be running multiple cons at one time,” he said. 

“Ultimately, that brought her unstick.”

Azzopardi has been in and out of jail for years but never for very long. 

“She’s not trying to take money off people, there’s no sexual theme going on - that’s part of the mystery,” Mr Farrell said.  

“It is just a compulsion.” 

Azzopardi got out of prison in December but Mr Farrell believes it might not be her last spell behind bars. 

“Just when you think she’s quiet, she pops up again - because until she gets serious help, she can’t stop doing it,” Mr Farrell said. 

“It’s a compulsion.”

Main image:  Superintendent David Taylor from the Garda Press Office pictured at a press conference in Garda HQ in Phoenix Park where a photo was issued of Samantha Azzopardi. Picture by: RollingNews.ie