Leicestershire police are handing out the garments to cover up gold necklaces and prevent them being snatched.
They have been made by people completing unpaid work on the Community Payback scheme with fabric donated by businesses in Belgrave, Leicester.
Officers said they had seen spikes in thefts over previous summers but it had not been a problem this year.
PC Laura Nutt said: "In 2014, we had 72 chain snatches in the Belgrave area. We have a lot of Asian females who wear the gold.
"It's very pure gold so it's very sought after and we wanted to put something in place to try and combat that this year."
Officers have been visiting community centres and temples in the city to warn women about thefts and hand out the scarves.
Ex-offenders on probation have been making scarves for Asian women to prevent jewellery thefts.