[Sean Camara]

How this woman saved herself from a HACKER with a clever eight-word phrase​

We’ve all heard about how chants can ward off bad spirits in ancient times, but have you ever wondered if they actually work in modern times?

One woman accomplished just that when one phrase had the scammers caught in their lie.

Chantel, from Victoria, was targeted by a sophisticated scammer who posed as a Medicare and Westpac representative and almost scammed $1000 out of her.

The Victorian was experiencing symptoms of COVID when she received an unsuspicious text message, informing her that she was in close contact with an Omicron case and that she needed to take a test.

The text message, which included a link to the fake Medicare website, read: "Medicare: You have been in close contact with someone who has contracted Omicron. You must order a free PCR test kit at:”

The text message Chantel received from the scammers. Credit: news.com.au.​

Chantel admitted that she "wasn’t really thinking clearly” at the time due to being unwell so she proceeded and clicked the link.

After clicking the link, she was redirected to a page where she could purchase a kit for $1.49.

The woman said that she made the purchase, thinking that she needed to take the test regardless.

However, upon making the transaction, her phone started receiving a series of calls.

“The phone rang twice, one straight after the other, so I thought it must be really important,” she recalled.

Chantel said that the person on the other line was a "well-spoken" British man who introduced himself as a Westpac employee.

The man informed her that she fell victim to a common scam and scammers were trying to take $1000 from her account before Westpac intercepted and stopped the transaction.

Chantel said that she had her suspicions over the legitimacy of the man so she raised them with him.

The man then demanded her to search for his number on Google so she could see that it belong to the bank.

She said: “Sure enough, it came up that it was under Westpac.”

The woman, who was experiencing COVID symptoms at the time, received a message from what seemed to be a Medicare number told that she was in close contact with an Omicron case. Credit: iStock.​

The man, who was confident that he had secured Chantel's trust, told her that she would receive a verification code he would need.

She recalled: "The text came up straight away but I was still a bit unsure, so he asked whether I had a landline so I could have called the bank to confirm.”

At this point, the fraudster was almost successful at scamming $1000 from her. But her next move saved her from the looming financial disaster...

She shared: "So I told him, ‘I’ll hang up and call the bank now.”

“That’s when I heard a clunk and he’d gone.”

Chantel said that it was all she needed to confirm that the man was indeed a scammer.

She said that the experience has left her shaken and that she now has a new appreciation for how easily people can be tricked into giving away their savings.

A Westpac spokesperson has confirmed that they would never use verification codes when taking payments

Services Australia has also warned of a potentially dangerous text message that's been circulating, telling people to delete it immediately.

ScamWatch says Australians have lost more than $205 million to scams so far this year, and that text message scams have increased by 54% in just the last few months.

We recommend checking out the Scam Watch section of the SDC website to stay on top of the latest scamming tactics that you need to be aware of in order to not fall victim to these schemes. Stay safe out there, folks![/firstad]

 

[Zemo]

When the scammers get on the phone to me, there's almost always a pause before they start with their spiel or there's lots of chatter in the background, which is a dead giveaway. What I do is let out a long, loud, lasting laugh. Again, almost invariably, they disconnect. Then I block their number.
Seems to work, the irritators are nowhere near as numerous these days.

 

[JayKay]

Remain vigilant when answering phone calls.
Listening for that pause before they start talking to you is a dead giveaway....hang up instantly.
Listen for the phone room chatter of the call room in the background if you miss the pause at the start, another giveaway.
Now that I have a mobile phone, I do not answer any calls if I don't recognise the number.
If a caller does not leave a message stating who they are, with a return contact number, I block them from future calls.
Works well.
PS Never stop being vigilant, don't become complacent, don't become trusting.....

 

[rehandra]

I honestly cannot believe people are still falling for these scams. I for one, treat each and every text message with suspicion when it comes in if I do not know the contact. I just delete. With phone calls as others have said there is usually background noise (they all sit in a huge room filled with computers, phones) and always a pause before someone comes on the line. My husband used to say sorry not interested but now he has had enough and just puts down the phone. We seem to get them in batches and then none at all and then they start up again. There has been so much publicity about scams but some just do not listen. If in any doubt hang up and ring your bank directly. Do not use any phone numbers that are given to you by the scammer.

When the scammers get on the phone to me, there's almost always a pause before they start with their spiel or there's lots of chatter in the background, which is a dead giveaway. What I do is let out a long, loud, lasting laugh. Again, almost invariably, they disconnect. Then I block their number.
Seems to work, the irritators are nowhere near as numerous these days.

ll

 

[DAVAMACA]

Shortly after receiving and paying my phone bill on line I receive an E Mail or phone call to say one of the digits in my bank account were wrong and that the bill had not been paid.
Of course I always receive a receipt from Telstra and a quick check of my Telstra account always shows that I owe nothing. Just be aware as to how cunning these people are.

 

[Zemo]

I honestly cannot believe people are still falling for these scams. I for one, treat each and every text message with suspicion when it comes in if I do not know the contact. I just delete. With phone calls as others have said there is usually background noise (they all sit in a huge room filled with computers, phones) and always a pause before someone comes on the line. My husband used to say sorry not interested but now he has had enough and just puts down the phone. We seem to get them in batches and then none at all and then they start up again. There has been so much publicity about scams but some just do not listen. If in any doubt hang up and ring your bank directly. Do not use any phone numbers that are given to you by the scammer.

ll

Another good way to irritate them as much as they irritate me is to turn a radio or TV on, sit the phone in front of it and walk away for a while. They don't hang around too long after that.

 

[Ricci]

Luckily my phone lets me know if an incoming call is a potential fraud so I just don't answer it. If this means I miss the odd innocent call so be it, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

 

[IJH]

Nobody I know uses my home phone number and I had been receiving scam calls daily so I used the "do not disturb" button on the phone so I never receive these calls!

 

[carosb13]

Another good way to irritate them as much as they irritate me is to turn a radio or TV on, sit the phone in front of it and walk away for a while. They don't hang around too long after that.

I know people who give the phone to a small child who loves to talk on the phone

 

[Mars]

I almost lost a big amount of money, but I got to the bank in time to cancel it. The scamers got as far as taking money from 2 accounts, but the Bank stopped it in time. Now I'm extra careful . I didn't think I would ever get caught.

 

[Suzy88]

We’ve all heard about how chants can ward off bad spirits in ancient times, but have you ever wondered if they actually work in modern times?

One woman accomplished just that when one phrase had the scammers caught in their lie.

Chantel, from Victoria, was targeted by a sophisticated scammer who posed as a Medicare and Westpac representative and almost scammed $1000 out of her.

The Victorian was experiencing symptoms of COVID when she received an unsuspicious text message, informing her that she was in close contact with an Omicron case and that she needed to take a test.

The text message, which included a link to the fake Medicare website, read: "Medicare: You have been in close contact with someone who has contracted Omicron. You must order a free PCR test kit at:”

The text message Chantel received from the scammers. Credit: news.com.au.​

Chantel admitted that she "wasn’t really thinking clearly” at the time due to being unwell so she proceeded and clicked the link.

After clicking the link, she was redirected to a page where she could purchase a kit for $1.49.

The woman said that she made the purchase, thinking that she needed to take the test regardless.

However, upon making the transaction, her phone started receiving a series of calls.

“The phone rang twice, one straight after the other, so I thought it must be really important,” she recalled.

Chantel said that the person on the other line was a "well-spoken" British man who introduced himself as a Westpac employee.

The man informed her that she fell victim to a common scam and scammers were trying to take $1000 from her account before Westpac intercepted and stopped the transaction.

Chantel said that she had her suspicions over the legitimacy of the man so she raised them with him.

The man then demanded her to search for his number on Google so she could see that it belong to the bank.

She said: “Sure enough, it came up that it was under Westpac.”

The woman, who was experiencing COVID symptoms at the time, received a message from what seemed to be a Medicare number told that she was in close contact with an Omicron case. Credit: iStock.​

The man, who was confident that he had secured Chantel's trust, told her that she would receive a verification code he would need.

She recalled: "The text came up straight away but I was still a bit unsure, so he asked whether I had a landline so I could have called the bank to confirm.”

At this point, the fraudster was almost successful at scamming $1000 from her. But her next move saved her from the looming financial disaster...

She shared: "So I told him, ‘I’ll hang up and call the bank now.”

“That’s when I heard a clunk and he’d gone.”

Chantel said that it was all she needed to confirm that the man was indeed a scammer.

She said that the experience has left her shaken and that she now has a new appreciation for how easily people can be tricked into giving away their savings.

A Westpac spokesperson has confirmed that they would never use verification codes when taking payments

Services Australia has also warned of a potentially dangerous text message that's been circulating, telling people to delete it immediately.

ScamWatch says Australians have lost more than $205 million to scams so far this year, and that text message scams have increased by 54% in just the last few months.

We recommend checking out the Scam Watch section of the SDC website to stay on top of the latest scamming tactics that you need to be aware of in order to not fall victim to these schemes. Stay safe out there, folks![/firstad]

Had this scam sent to me last week, supposedly by my daughter in law, lucky I had seen a segment on the channel nine news and ignored it. I honestly see how easy it is to be scammed, it all looked so authentic. take care everyone..

 

[Caroline257]

Remain vigilant when answering phone calls.
Listening for that pause before they start talking to you is a dead giveaway....hang up instantly.
Listen for the phone room chatter of the call room in the background if you miss the pause at the start, another giveaway.
Now that I have a mobile phone, I do not answer any calls if I don't recognise the number.
If a caller does not leave a message stating who they are, with a return contact number, I block them from future calls.
Works well.
PS Never stop being vigilant, don't become complacent, don't become trusting.....

I do the same thing - always block calls from numbers I don’t know if they don’t leave a message. I have found that some phone numbers are very similar to my mobile number which is an immediate block from me too. So many scammers out there!!
Thanks for the article guys!

 

[Carolynirene]

I don’t answer my house phone at all now , turned off the ringer and it goes to answer, my mobile is set to receive only calls from people I know , if someone does need me , they can leave a message and I’ll get back to them .
It’s certainly cut out a lot of scam callers .

 

[Ian Crane-Luff]

While I know it to be illegal no scammer is going to complain, I keep a very shrill whistle beside the phone and give them a good blast, they don't worry me again.

 

[Barbs helen]

We’ve all heard about how chants can ward off bad spirits in ancient times, but have you ever wondered if they actually work in modern times?

One woman accomplished just that when one phrase had the scammers caught in their lie.

Chantel, from Victoria, was targeted by a sophisticated scammer who posed as a Medicare and Westpac representative and almost scammed $1000 out of her.

The Victorian was experiencing symptoms of COVID when she received an unsuspicious text message, informing her that she was in close contact with an Omicron case and that she needed to take a test.

The text message, which included a link to the fake Medicare website, read: "Medicare: You have been in close contact with someone who has contracted Omicron. You must order a free PCR test kit at:”

The text message Chantel received from the scammers. Credit: news.com.au.​

Chantel admitted that she "wasn’t really thinking clearly” at the time due to being unwell so she proceeded and clicked the link.

After clicking the link, she was redirected to a page where she could purchase a kit for $1.49.

The woman said that she made the purchase, thinking that she needed to take the test regardless.

However, upon making the transaction, her phone started receiving a series of calls.

“The phone rang twice, one straight after the other, so I thought it must be really important,” she recalled.

Chantel said that the person on the other line was a "well-spoken" British man who introduced himself as a Westpac employee.

The man informed her that she fell victim to a common scam and scammers were trying to take $1000 from her account before Westpac intercepted and stopped the transaction.

Chantel said that she had her suspicions over the legitimacy of the man so she raised them with him.

The man then demanded her to search for his number on Google so she could see that it belong to the bank.

She said: “Sure enough, it came up that it was under Westpac.”

The woman, who was experiencing COVID symptoms at the time, received a message from what seemed to be a Medicare number told that she was in close contact with an Omicron case. Credit: iStock.​

The man, who was confident that he had secured Chantel's trust, told her that she would receive a verification code he would need.

She recalled: "The text came up straight away but I was still a bit unsure, so he asked whether I had a landline so I could have called the bank to confirm.”

At this point, the fraudster was almost successful at scamming $1000 from her. But her next move saved her from the looming financial disaster...

She shared: "So I told him, ‘I’ll hang up and call the bank now.”

“That’s when I heard a clunk and he’d gone.”

Chantel said that it was all she needed to confirm that the man was indeed a scammer.

She said that the experience has left her shaken and that she now has a new appreciation for how easily people can be tricked into giving away their savings.

A Westpac spokesperson has confirmed that they would never use verification codes when taking payments

Services Australia has also warned of a potentially dangerous text message that's been circulating, telling people to delete it immediately.

ScamWatch says Australians have lost more than $205 million to scams so far this year, and that text message scams have increased by 54% in just the last few months.

We recommend checking out the Scam Watch section of the SDC website to stay on top of the latest scamming tactics that you need to be aware of in order to not fall victim to these schemes. Stay safe out there, folks![/firstad]

I have changed my voicemail to say that I will answer numbers I recognize if I am able but will not answer and I don't. If they want to talk to me then leave a message otherwise they will never hear from me so telemarketers will have to leave a message to get me. I was receiving up to 16 calls per day that were either scammers, marketers or charities. Had enough.

 

[MarieT]

Remain vigilant when answering phone calls.
Listening for that pause before they start talking to you is a dead giveaway....hang up instantly.
Listen for the phone room chatter of the call room in the background if you miss the pause at the start, another giveaway.
Now that I have a mobile phone, I do not answer any calls if I don't recognise the number.
If a caller does not leave a message stating who they are, with a return contact number, I block them from future calls.
Works well.
PS Never stop being vigilant, don't become complacent, don't become trusting.....

I am the same, never answer a number if I don’t know it.

 

[Groovy]

Remain vigilant when answering phone calls.
Listening for that pause before they start talking to you is a dead giveaway....hang up instantly.
Listen for the phone room chatter of the call room in the background if you miss the pause at the start, another giveaway.
Now that I have a mobile phone, I do not answer any calls if I don't recognise the number.
If a caller does not leave a message stating who they are, with a return contact number, I block them from future calls.
Works well.
PS Never stop being vigilant, don't become complacent, don't become trusting.....

Same here

 

[Ambrry]

Remain vigilant when answering phone calls.
Listening for that pause before they start talking to you is a dead giveaway....hang up instantly.
Listen for the phone room chatter of the call room in the background if you miss the pause at the start, another giveaway.
Now that I have a mobile phone, I do not answer any calls if I don't recognise the number.
If a caller does not leave a message stating who they are, with a return contact number, I block them from future calls.
Works well.
PS Never stop being vigilant, don't become complacent, don't become trusting.....

My phone comes up with a message saying Suspected Scam Call when I get some calls so I immediately block the number

 

[Esma Rose]

I no longer answer my phone. If they don't condescend to leave a message, stiff cheddar.

 

[Marj53]

My phone comes up with suspected scam also so I just block the number. If it is a number I don't know I just let them leave a message. If they don't I know it wasn't important.