S
Sean Camara
Guest
New Telstra scam puts 18 million Australians at risk: Here’s how to stay safe
It is not breaking news that scammers are getting more inventive in how they deceive people, especially when they pose as real companies.
However, did you know that a recent report revealed that an estimated 18 million Telstra customers are being targeted by scammers?
No need to do a double take, folks. This alarming news was shared by MailGuard last week, alerting and advising the customers of the telecommunications company to 'be wary' of emails from accounts posing to be Telstra.
Telstra customers have been warned by MailGuard not to divulge their login and passwords if they receive a fraudulent refund email that claims they have been 'paid twice owing to a system error'.
The group noted that it would be especially disastrous to fall for the scam since, if con artists are successful in getting hold of consumer information, they may next take their phone numbers and change bank account passwords.
MailGuard also shared some details about the usual format of the emails, pointing out that scammers usually use the subject line 'Reminder: Refund ID: TLS51128499822AUS! Fri, 26 Aug 2022 07:49:01 +0300'.
It was also said that customers are addressed by the scammers as 'dear customer', and in the email thread, 'Service Inc.' is listed as the sender.
MailGuard noted that while the sender does not appear to be a legitimate DHL source, the actual email address is 'return (at) dhl (dot) com', allowing unsuspecting customers to reply to the sender as if it was sent by an automated system.
So, how do the con-men scam out money from Telstra customers?
The potential victims are instructed to finalise a claim by clicking the 'Refund the amount' option in order to have the amount refunded to their credit card.
The link will then direct the customers to a fake Telstra website where they must enter their login and password. Then, they will be instructed to enter their credit card information, which the scammers will use for accessing your bank account.
Customers who fall prey to the scheme may later become the target of a SIM swap scam, MailGuard warned.
For those of you who are not aware of this trick, scammers use a phone number they have obtained illegally and use it to change the victim's password on their own devices.
Customers are redirected to a website that was designed to look similar to a legitimate Telstra website. Credit: news.com.au via MailGuard.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority estimates that a SIM switch victim in Australia will often lose a staggering $28,000 to hackers (ACMA).
We should be careful when checking emails from service providers as they may be from scammers posing as that business. It's important to be vigilant when checking your email, as scammers are constantly coming up with new ways to trick people.
If you're not sure whether an email is legitimate, contact the company directly to confirm. This means looking up their official contact page and website. Don't click on any links or attachments in the email, as these could be malicious. If you do receive a suspicious email, report it to the company and delete it.
Stay safe, folks! We recommend checking the Scam Watch section of the SDC website regularly to be informed on the most recent scams that we should all be on the lookout for and be knowledgeable about how we can avoid falling for them.
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