[Maddison Dwyer]

Advice to avoid the increasing phone scams? Just Hang Up.​

A new consumer survey reveals that almost 90 percent of Australians have received at least one unwanted call every week with 10 percent of them receiving more than ten nuisance calls each week, according to Crime Stoppers (NSW).

Scam activity has caused sizeable social and economic impacts on Australians as reports revealed that a total of $66.8 million in financial losses has been linked to scams, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch. What’s more alarming is that the financial losses were only recorded from 120,279 reports between 1 January 2021 and 3 October 2021 — which translates to an increase of 104 percent in losses and an 87 percent increase in reports.


The rise in phone scams has left Australians suffering a financial loss of $66.8 million. Credit: Unsplash/ Norwood Themes

Scammers’ New Tricks

Phone calls are becoming the most popular method for scammers to reach consumers. In fact, scammers are innovating ways to trick people into taking their calls. One of such tricks is Caller ID spoofing where scammers disguise their identity; scammers calling from outside of Australia mask their phone numbers by displaying Australian phone numbers, including an Aussie mobile number, to increase their chances of you picking up their call.

Some people reported that they get calls from their own phone numbers while some get notified that their valid phone numbers are being reported for their phone scam activities — which means that scammers used their phone numbers to make nuisance calls.

The scam phone call activity has been disruptive and has impacted the productivity of Australians. What’s more frustrating is that there is no single solution to this issue; blocking a phone number would only lead to avoiding phone calls from that specific number.

Just Hang Up

NSW Crime Stoppers launched ‘Just Hang Up’, a new campaign that aims to minimise the incidence of Australians falling victim to phone scams.

NSW Crime Stoppers CEO Peter Price AM said that the chances of legitimate institutions to ask probing and personal questions in an unsolicited phone call is zero.

‘The questions may seem harmless, but they build a picture of you, where your finances are, your financial situation and other personal details that allow them to impersonate you and extract money,’ Mr. Price said.

He added: ‘Hanging up may be the difference between being scammed or not’.

‘Our message to the community is simple: Just Hang Up.’

‘Reputable organisations like financial institutions and the ATO will never ask you for passwords or for access to your computer, just hang up.’

Just Hang Up is the proposed solution for the issues identified from the data presented in the consumer survey: more than 68% of those who received unwanted calls have been asked for access to their computer or asked for credit card details, more than 50% engaged with the scam phone call before eventually hanging up, and in 5% of the reported cases, people have given out the information they’re being asked.

Tips from Just Hang Up:

1. Just hang up if there is a distinct delay when you pick up the phone and the person does not announce who they are before starting the conversation.
2. Just hang up if the person asks for your personal information in an unsolicited call.
3. Call the organisation the caller claimed to be from using contact details you independently obtained, via Google search, for example, to check if the call is legitimate. Never use the contact details associated with the call.
4. Never give out any personal information.
5. Report to your bank if you've given away any banking details and report the incident to Scamwatch.
6. Let your family and friends know about your experience. Awareness can help others avoid scams.

NSW Crime Stoppers released a fact sheet containing advice on how to spot and deal with a phone scam. The fact sheet is available at https://www.nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/. Read more about this report here.

 

[Granny Maeve]

Don’t buy a mobility scooter from Facebook if it sounds too good to be true. I was scammed! Australia Post said it was quite common. They say they have Amazon stock at great prices.

 

[Jonathan Leane]

Good tip @Granny Maeve

It's truly sad that there are people out there running mobility scooter scams

 

[Bubbles]

The frequency of the scam SMS texts is galling! A total of 6 yesterday! First one at 07:07, and the last at 22:36. The govt really needs to DO something about the use of CLI Overstamping. I report every SMS to Scam Watch on 0429 999 888, in the hope they will realise just how bad this is! (They already stop over 1mill calls like this!)

 

[Jan A]

Yet another scam arrived by email late last month. This was a "Receipt" purporting to be from the App Store for purchase of a "Beach Buggy Racing" game at $59.98. I rarely use the App Store and never buy games of any kind.

On the "Receipt" there is a heading in bold saying "Thank You For Order on App Store". Then there is the key scamming paragraph saying: "Not you? Learn How to Cancel This order and get a refund make sure you cancel this before 24 hour after transaction if This is not you who did it after you cancle this we recommend to change your password maybe someone else Know your Password and abuse it." Then there is a link saying: "Click here To Manage Order, Cancle and Get Full Refund". I have reproduced the text exactly. Note all the capitalisation, spelling and punctuation errors. The email address is "Customer" and the Payment says "Credit Card". There are no personal details. Clicking on the sender's address reveals a jumble of letters, symbols and numbers, clearly not an Apple email address.

I checked my credit card statement online and there is no charge equivalent to this "Receipt". No doubt when the recipient clicks on the "Click Here" link, it will ask for a credit card number so the charge can be "refunded". This email went straight into my "Junk" folder, so I didn't see it immediately. It was well past the "24 hour" specified when I spotted it. This time limit is another attempt to panic people into responding quickly rather than checking on the legitimacy of the email.

If you get a "Receipt" or "Invoice" like this, immediately check your accounts online to make sure the charge is not there. If there is no corresponding charge on your online bank statement and this email does not provide any details, such as the last 4 numbers of your credit card, a correct email address or your name, then the scammers do not have your number and are trying to get it from you. If the charge appears on your credit card account, they do have your credit card number. Cancel the credit card immediately and request a new one. If this scammer has your card number, they have most likely shared it with other scammers. It is no longer safe to keep it. Report the scam charge to your bank as soon as possible.

I had a charge like this on my credit card. Please see my other posts about scams. It was listed as "Pending". Normally, a pending charge is not removed when the credit card is cancelled, but the pending charge on my account disappeared when I very quickly cancelled the card. Fortunately, it did not reappear on the new account.

The bottom line is do not trust an email you do not recognize. Do not click on any link in the email. No matter how intimidating the email sounds with threats of charges or prosecution, do not open it or click on anything contained in it. Similarly, if an email represents itself as a charity or a petition, no matter how worthy, do not open it or click on anything in it. You do not know who has sent it or what their real agenda is. Protect yourself! Delete it!

Jan A.

 

[Jan A]

In January 2022, I received 4 emails purporting to be from PayPal saying "Your account has been suspended". Each email gave a long reference number (all different). All were addressed to my email account with no mention of my name.

The email said: "Your PayPal account has been temporarily restricted. You were recently asked to take an action on your account and it looks like we didn't receive a requested response. We have found suspicious activity on the credit card linked to your PayPal account. You must confirm your identify to confirm that you are the owner of the credit card. To maintain account security, please provide documents confirming your identity. We've also imposed temporary limits on certain features on your PayPal account. Login to your PayPal account and perform the required steps." There is a "Login to PayPal" link.

Clicking on the address of the sender (just click and hold down the mouse button to reveal the address behind the one that appears on the email) shows a jumble of symbols, letters and numbers, typical of a scam email. I checked my PayPal account and found no problems or restrictions. No doubt clicking on the "Login to PayPal" link asks for the recipient's credit card details to "verify" them. Delete these emails if you receive them. This is yet another scam attempt by loathsome thieves to steal your money. Protect yourself!

Jan A.

 

[Jan A]

There are scams going around where people receive emails or phone calls purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and threatening people with arrest and/or prosecution. As a former executive manager in the federal public service, I would like to reassure people that any phone calls or emails from the ATO threatening people with arrest or prosecution are scams and should be ignored.

The ATO does not have the authority to arrest anyone. If you owe a tax debt, you will be advised by mail. The correspondence will use your name and address. It will have identifying details on it. You will be given the opportunity of making a payment arrangement to pay off any debt over time. If you have a debt that is at the stage of court prosecution, you will have known about it for some time. Such an act does not come out of the blue in a phone call or email.

If you are uncertain, the appropriate action is to contact the ATO using their listed phone number. Quote your tax file number and ask for information about any money owed. Do not engage with callers who threaten you with arrest - just hang up. Do not click on links in any emails about tax money "owed" - just delete the email. The ATO does not communicate with people in this way.

Protect yourself from scammers who are trying to steal from you. Do not let them scare you. Take great satisfaction in hanging up on these contemptible thieves or in deleting their emails.

Jan A.

 

[Maddison Dwyer]

Oh my goodness @Jan A this has been extremely informative, I have heard of the PayPal scam as it happened to me, but I cannot believe the other two. That is very scary. I hope they didn't manage to get you? Could you tell they were scams from the get go?

 

[Jan A]

Hi Maddie. Yes, these scams are very scary. They disguise themselves using the icons and fonts of genuine sites, and they are getting smarter at it. A friend's niece was scammed by the one that starts with a threatening call purporting to be from the ATO. It took a long time to rectify the damage that did to her bank accounts. Fortunately I recognized them as scams from the start, but I can see why people would feel intimidated by them.

Please see my other posts about scams under the heading: BEWARE: New email scam looks like MyGov and claims to be Service NSW.

 

[Jan A]

One of the most frightening scams I have encountered happened to a friend of mine. I was glad to be able to tell her how to protect herself because she had no idea what to do. It involves a fake claim made through the Small Claims Court. I am sure most people would not know what to do and would end up in a seriously costly and stressful situation. In this case, ignoring it is the wrong thing to do. Taking immediate action is essential to protect yourself.

I detailed this aggressive scam in a reply to the post: "BEWARE: New email scam looks like MyGov and claims to be Service NSW." I repeat it below in case people did not see it.

In a sophisticated and dangerous scam, people are receiving demands for money under a Small Claims Court application. The claim will be sent to your address but probably using a name that is not yours because the scammers pick out the address but do not know the resident's name. The amount will be a little under $5,000 because that is the maximum amount dealt with in Small Claims Court. Under the law, anyone can make an application against another person in Small Claims Court up to $5,000 with only a sworn statement setting out why the money is owed. Then the onus is on the recipient of the notice to respond to the claim. The claim sent under this scam will be something to the effect that the business making the claim sold goods to the occupant of that address and they are chasing up payment by way of the Small Claims Court. Fake invoices will accompany the claim. The court will then raise a claim against the occupant of that address.

If you receive a notice like this, do not ignore it! This is a claim that scammers have made through the court system, setting in motion a legal claim against you. You need to take immediate action. You must complete the appropriate response form and have your signature witnessed by a JP (there is usually one at the courts on weekdays from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) At the same time, get the JP to certify a copy of your rate notice or other proof that you are the occupant of the property on the claim. Then go to the court’s enquiry counter and submit your response and proof of occupancy. State in your written response that you do not know the person whose name appears on the claim, they do not live at that address, you have never received any goods from the claimant and you have no knowledge about the sale in question. If you fail to act on the claim, the next step is that the Sheriff’s Office will send officers to take goods from your home to the value of the claim and the money will be given to the scammer. You will have great difficulty in fighting the claim at this point as you did not respond to the claim. It is outrageous that scammers are using the legal system against innocent people, but that is what is happening. Defend yourself and defeat their attempts to scam you. Stay alert. This scam happened to a friend of mine. She later discovered it had happened to others who had suddenly found the Sheriff's officers on their doorstep. By taking the actions described, she stopped the claim.

Please pass on this information to others. It is vital to take action if a claim like this is sent to you. The court does not know this claim is a fake. The recipient needs to submit their response to advise that the claim is false and they do not owe money to the claimant.

Jan A.