Surely no one would be stupid enough to click that link?
you'd like to think so.
the main problem is that Services Australia acts *very* much like the scammers. observed the following with my beloved earlier this week:
- unsolicited SMS saying "A Services Australia Service Officer will call you today from a private number. Please answer this call. Do not reply by SMS" (copy/paste of text message).
note: no real "proof" that it's genuine, just answer the phone
- a few minutes later (just like the
scammer message said) a phone call:
The person stated they were from Services Australia (but we had / have no proof of that, I could call your number and tell whoever answered exactly the same thing, how would you know?).
They then demanded Personal Identifying Information (PII) including: full name, Date of birth, full address, phone number (the one they just called, mind you), then PII of other members of the family.
All with no verification that they were actually from SA.
Is this is the way a government department should operate?
ScamWatch talks about
Text scams that "...look like they are from the government...", and Phone scams that "...Asks for personal ... information..." and goes on to mention
Impersonation scams where the "scammers trick you into thinking they are from organisations such as the ... government..."
Is it any wonder people are scammed when the *exact* same techniques are used by so-called "Services Australia" officers?
.h