[Sethia Soliman]

Drivers warned about toll road text scam after hundreds of victims come forward​

The fight against scammers may seem like an impossible hurdle to overcome, but we take a step forward every time someone finds the courage to speak up about it.

A woman from the Gold Coast is urging others to be vigilant about a new scam making the rounds after she was targeted by text message scammers pretending to be a toll road operator from Linkt.

Poleta Lillico explained that the twisted hoax was disguised as a genuine text message from Linkt, notifying her about a toll payment that she failed to pay and requesting that she settle the outstanding amount as soon as possible.

She didn’t think anything of it as it didn’t look suspicious at first glance, so she went ahead and paid $20 through the app. However, just days later she stumbled across a nightmare-ish occurrence. A $4,000 charge on her credit card.

Be wary of text messages from strangers! Source: Cool Mom Tech​

‘I was in, as you can imagine, massive shock,’ Ms Lillico said. ‘I wasn't even thinking straight. I was in such shock.’

Ms Lillico added that she doesn’t know how the fraudsters got her details.

‘I may have clicked on the link but I didn't pay for anything through the link. I paid the bill through the Linkt app on my phone,’ she said.

She said that she immediately contacted her bank for help but only ended up even more frustrated with their response.

‘They just try and get you off the phone as quickly as possible and say it's not their problem,’ she said.

‘And I just went, “That's not acceptable.” The transaction showed up as overseas from America and the algorithms on my account clearly show that I'm in Australia for my daily spend.’

‘There's really no excuse for how that slipped through the way it did.’

The text message that Ms Lillico received. Source: ABC​

In a statement, a Transurban spokesperson revealed that it appears the hoax was being coordinated overseas and was being sent to the general public, including people who did not have toll road accounts.

‘We are aware of an SMS phishing scam that is using the Linkt and Transurban brands,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Linkt will never send you an SMS or an email to ask for your personal information or login details.’

‘Our security operations team is working with telecommunications providers, including Optus and Telstra, to identify and shut down malicious domains used for this scam.’

Transurban urged people to avoid clicking links attached to dodgy text messages and emails.

‘You can report a scam message to us via the Linkt website at linkt.com.au or via the federal government's ScamWatch website at scamwatch.gov.au,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Make sure you're logging into the Linkt website by navigating to linkt.com.au  before you enter any personal details. You can also manage your account securely via the Linkt or LinktGO apps.’

Don’t do anything that a dodgy text may ask you to do. Source: Norton​

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) reported that it had received roughly 750 cases related to this type of scam this year.

A spokesperson for the consumer watchdog detailed that the recipients also received a text message with a link attached that directed them to pay a bill or provide sensitive details – and several Australians have already lost around $29,000.

‘The victims that have clicked on the link and provided their details would then find fraudulent transactions on their credit card,’ the spokesperson said.

The ACCC also advised people to keep an eye out for typos or grammatical errors in text messages. As you can see in the screenshot, the Linkt scam should already raise red flags due to the errors.

After raising the issue to the banking ombudsman, Ms Poletta finally got a refund. She warned others to delete suspicious messages.

‘On a good note, I've had it resolved now because I did escalate my case.’ she said.

‘Just don't click on anything.’

Remember, everyone! It’s better to be safe than sorry. Learn how you can protect yourself from scammers by reading this Guide to Cyber Safety.

What are your thoughts on this new text message scam going around? Have you ever received a similar suspicious text before? Share them with us in the comments or post them in the Scam Watch forum!

Brush up on how ‘smishing’, which is the term for phishing via SMS, works by watching the video below:

Source: IDG TECHtalk​

 

[Lex]

The fight against scammers may seem like an impossible hurdle to overcome, but we take a step forward every time someone finds the courage to speak up about it.

A woman from the Gold Coast is urging others to be vigilant about a new scam making the rounds after she was targeted by text message scammers pretending to be a toll road operator from Linkt.

Poleta Lillico explained that the twisted hoax was disguised as a genuine text message from Linkt, notifying her about a toll payment that she failed to pay and requesting that she settle the outstanding amount as soon as possible.

She didn’t think anything of it as it didn’t look suspicious at first glance, so she went ahead and paid $20 through the app. However, just days later she stumbled across a nightmare-ish occurrence. A $4,000 charge on her credit card.

Be wary of text messages from strangers! Source: Cool Mom Tech​

‘I was in, as you can imagine, massive shock,’ Ms Lillico said. ‘I wasn't even thinking straight. I was in such shock.’

Ms Lillico added that she doesn’t know how the fraudsters got her details.

‘I may have clicked on the link but I didn't pay for anything through the link. I paid the bill through the Linkt app on my phone,’ she said.

She said that she immediately contacted her bank for help but only ended up even more frustrated with their response.

‘They just try and get you off the phone as quickly as possible and say it's not their problem,’ she said.

‘And I just went, “That's not acceptable.” The transaction showed up as overseas from America and the algorithms on my account clearly show that I'm in Australia for my daily spend.’

‘There's really no excuse for how that slipped through the way it did.’

The text message that Ms Lillico received. Source: ABC​

In a statement, a Transurban spokesperson revealed that it appears the hoax was being coordinated overseas and was being sent to the general public, including people who did not have toll road accounts.

‘We are aware of an SMS phishing scam that is using the Linkt and Transurban brands,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Linkt will never send you an SMS or an email to ask for your personal information or login details.’

‘Our security operations team is working with telecommunications providers, including Optus and Telstra, to identify and shut down malicious domains used for this scam.’

Transurban urged people to avoid clicking links attached to dodgy text messages and emails.

‘You can report a scam message to us via the Linkt website at linkt.com.au or via the federal government's ScamWatch website at scamwatch.gov.au,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Make sure you're logging into the Linkt website by navigating to linkt.com.au  before you enter any personal details. You can also manage your account securely via the Linkt or LinktGO apps.’

Don’t do anything that a dodgy text may ask you to do. Source: Norton​

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) reported that it had received roughly 750 cases related to this type of scam this year.

A spokesperson for the consumer watchdog detailed that the recipients also received a text message with a link attached that directed them to pay a bill or provide sensitive details – and several Australians have already lost around $29,000.

‘The victims that have clicked on the link and provided their details would then find fraudulent transactions on their credit card,’ the spokesperson said.

The ACCC also advised people to keep an eye out for typos or grammatical errors in text messages. As you can see in the screenshot, the Linkt scam should already raise red flags due to the errors.

After raising the issue to the banking ombudsman, Ms Poletta finally got a refund. She warned others to delete suspicious messages.

‘On a good note, I've had it resolved now because I did escalate my case.’ she said.

‘Just don't click on anything.’

Remember, everyone! It’s better to be safe than sorry. Learn how you can protect yourself from scammers by reading this Guide to Cyber Safety.

What are your thoughts on this new text message scam going around? Have you ever received a similar suspicious text before? Share them with us in the comments or post them in the Scam Watch forum!

Brush up on how ‘smishing’, which is the term for phishing via SMS, works by watching the video below:

Source: IDG TECHtalk​

I got an almost identical one but picked it as false. My main question is if Linkt knew of the scam WHY DIDN'T THEY DO THE RIGHT THING AND ADVISE EVERYONE. Tipical though, more interestred in their profits than helping those that supply those profits.

 

[barbaranne]

I also received one of these texts, however, as I no longer drive, or own a car, it was immediately obvious it was a scam, so I was lucky.

However, please be careful, as I know they’re always reminding us to check for spelling or grammar errors as signs of a scam, but this text had no errors with English.
Perhaps not so surprising if it’s coming from America.

 

[Dougal]

The victim was naive in following instructions sent by text and
also using a weblink which bears no relationship to Linkt.

 

[robbie's]

Hi there, thanks for the update on scammers. What is this world coming to. I am very practical about anything, even some off your stuff, links to other stuff you put on here. I won't answer to any in coming calls that arn't in my mum phone, i make it go silent, if they need me, that can leave a message, most of the time they don't. I look number up on Google, almost most of the time e the mod is not reconized, so i go into mbl and black, same as email, if I don't know who the are or unusual lettering and numbers there, i just delete, ppl need to be more aware of what going on in this word, don't answer to them, or bag, got all your information.
If it isn't hard enough to live with the economy,
Cheer's

 

[Macarj]

I would love to know which bank she was with because my 2 banks will always query unusual attempts of withdrawals, I also received this text.

 

[Dougal]

Hi there, thanks for the update on scammers. What is this world coming to. I am very practical about anything, even some off your stuff, links to other stuff you put on here. I won't answer to any in coming calls that arn't in my mum phone, i make it go silent, if they need me, that can leave a message, most of the time they don't. I look number up on Google, almost most of the time e the mod is not reconized, so i go into mbl and black, same as email, if I don't know who the are or unusual lettering and numbers there, i just delete, ppl need to be more aware of what going on in this word, don't answer to them, or bag, got all your information.
If it isn't hard enough to live with the economy,
Cheer's

Next time you get a call supposedly from Telstra, NBN wi-fi, Microsoft, etc about your
faulty internet; use the “Hermann Gruntfuttock” defence;

“What?” I hear you say.

One day the phone rang; silence.

When the silence goes on for a while you know it’s an Indian call centre’s autodial
system which automatically dials phone numbers in sequence until it detects a
human voice, then it transfers the call to the team of scammers.

Sure enough a very Indian voice asking me how am I, to which I replied by asking why
are you calling me.

“I’m from Telstra” she said, “We have detected a fault in your internet, so are ready
now to fix it for you” to which I replied, “Are you looking at my account at the moment?”

“Yes“ was the reply, following which I said “I’ll advise you of my name to make sure it is
my account you’re looking at”

Then I said “My name is Hermann Gruntfuttock, that's Hermann with two n’s; is that my
account you’re calling about?”

“Yes” was her reply, followed by me saying “Bye bye”

The other day I received yet another call supposedly from Telstra; so just in case they
had recorded Hermann Gruntfuttock as a dud, I used a different name.

My name is Norbert Goosecreature I said.

Did it work? ……………….Yes!

I’ll now need to come up with a new idiotic alias; got a suggestion?

 

[Hieme]

I must have been on a scammers list a couple of months ago. I re-erected an old one:

"Persion Cat and Carpet Company. We breed 'em, we weave 'em. Tommy Killer, Head Skinner speaking. How may I help you?"

99% of the time I didn't get past the first five words.

 

[RodRod]

The victim was naive in following instructions sent by text and
also using a weblink which bears no relationship to Linkt.

Must be nice to be perfect...

 

[Suzanne rose]

I answered a call once and it was an insurance company which I knew they were in India.
They asked how I was today . I said good and you
Then I asked what country are you calling from , they replied Australia , then I asked where abouts in Australia, they gave me a complete address in Melbourne and the way they said Melbourne they pronounced it Mel...borrrrrn .

I asked how did you get to work ? ...they replied bus ...I asked what number bus....they couldn't reply ... I then said how is the weather there and what temp us it ....they replied very hot n sunny , seriously it was July !!!.

Once I knew it was a scammer and I said do you know you just spoke to a serial killer and I now know where you are!

Seriously I hate what these people are doing to us and especially the vulnerable

The government should be doing more to prevent these and catch the people behind it

 

[Jan A]

For my business, I use Viber which provides face to face electronic communication (like Skype). It also has a messaging facility. Viber is a fabulous system and normally I have no problems with it at all. However, one day I received a message that looked exactly like a message from a person on my contact list, even using his name. It included a photo of two dogs in a back yard. The message said he had recently obtained these new dogs and that I could see more photos if I clicked on the attached link. Fortunately I did not click on it. I spoke with him a week later and mentioned the photo. He said he had not sent any photo and did not have any new dogs. Clearly this was another scam, but a very sophisticated one disguised as a genuine message from a known contact. The bottom line is to call before you click. Call the person or organization first to check that this message or email is from them.

 

[donellefeltham@ gmail.com]

The fight against scammers may seem like an impossible hurdle to overcome, but we take a step forward every time someone finds the courage to speak up about it.

A woman from the Gold Coast is urging others to be vigilant about a new scam making the rounds after she was targeted by text message scammers pretending to be a toll road operator from Linkt.

Poleta Lillico explained that the twisted hoax was disguised as a genuine text message from Linkt, notifying her about a toll payment that she failed to pay and requesting that she settle the outstanding amount as soon as possible.

She didn’t think anything of it as it didn’t look suspicious at first glance, so she went ahead and paid $20 through the app. However, just days later she stumbled across a nightmare-ish occurrence. A $4,000 charge on her credit card.

Be wary of text messages from strangers! Source: Cool Mom Tech​

‘I was in, as you can imagine, massive shock,’ Ms Lillico said. ‘I wasn't even thinking straight. I was in such shock.’

Ms Lillico added that she doesn’t know how the fraudsters got her details.

‘I may have clicked on the link but I didn't pay for anything through the link. I paid the bill through the Linkt app on my phone,’ she said.

She said that she immediately contacted her bank for help but only ended up even more frustrated with their response.

‘They just try and get you off the phone as quickly as possible and say it's not their problem,’ she said.

‘And I just went, “That's not acceptable.” The transaction showed up as overseas from America and the algorithms on my account clearly show that I'm in Australia for my daily spend.’

‘There's really no excuse for how that slipped through the way it did.’

The text message that Ms Lillico received. Source: ABC​

In a statement, a Transurban spokesperson revealed that it appears the hoax was being coordinated overseas and was being sent to the general public, including people who did not have toll road accounts.

‘We are aware of an SMS phishing scam that is using the Linkt and Transurban brands,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Linkt will never send you an SMS or an email to ask for your personal information or login details.’

‘Our security operations team is working with telecommunications providers, including Optus and Telstra, to identify and shut down malicious domains used for this scam.’

Transurban urged people to avoid clicking links attached to dodgy text messages and emails.

‘You can report a scam message to us via the Linkt website at linkt.com.au or via the federal government's ScamWatch website at scamwatch.gov.au,’ the spokesperson said.

‘Make sure you're logging into the Linkt website by navigating to linkt.com.au  before you enter any personal details. You can also manage your account securely via the Linkt or LinktGO apps.’

Don’t do anything that a dodgy text may ask you to do. Source: Norton​

The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) reported that it had received roughly 750 cases related to this type of scam this year.

A spokesperson for the consumer watchdog detailed that the recipients also received a text message with a link attached that directed them to pay a bill or provide sensitive details – and several Australians have already lost around $29,000.

‘The victims that have clicked on the link and provided their details would then find fraudulent transactions on their credit card,’ the spokesperson said.

The ACCC also advised people to keep an eye out for typos or grammatical errors in text messages. As you can see in the screenshot, the Linkt scam should already raise red flags due to the errors.

After raising the issue to the banking ombudsman, Ms Poletta finally got a refund. She warned others to delete suspicious messages.

‘On a good note, I've had it resolved now because I did escalate my case.’ she said.

‘Just don't click on anything.’

Remember, everyone! It’s better to be safe than sorry. Learn how you can protect yourself from scammers by reading this Guide to Cyber Safety.

What are your thoughts on this new text message scam going around? Have you ever received a similar suspicious text before? Share them with us in the comments or post them in the Scam Watch forum!

Brush up on how ‘smishing’, which is the term for phishing via SMS, works by watching the video below:

Source: IDG TECHtalk​

I did get one of these and new straight away it was a Scam. I live in Perth Western Australia and we don’t have to pay tolls on Freeway’s or any other roads in our State. All the same I would say to others if you don’t recognise an email or message sent to you don’t open it and if you do get messages that you don’t recognise, if they sound too good too be true they are. Even if you do recognise or have an account with some of the people they are claiming to be, if it doesn’t look right don’t open it, instead ring the company concerned and ask them did they send it. I know sometimes the weight time is long with a lot of provider’s but that could save you a lot of money and a lot of worry.