If you receive a phone call from a person with a foreign-sounding accent claiming to be a Testra employee and appealing for your help to catch hackers, hang up because you’re likely talking to a scammer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Telstra scam is an old one, but recent months have seen a surge in the practice. When Lawana Hillhouse received a number of calls of this type she immediately alerted Telstra and reported the incident to the police. “I have had two on my home phone for two days running,” she said. “I just tell them I live near Telstra so I will go and ask them and then they hang up. In the past we have had seven calls all up.”
Another man from Inverell was not so lucky after he bought $2,000 worth of iTunes cards at the request of scammers. “I feel ashamed, but I don’t want others to be duped,” said the man who did not want to give his name. He said the scammers were quite convincing and asked for his help in dealing with hackers. He downloaded Team Viewer, a remote access software program onto his computer.
“They deposited money into my account, but I didn’t know it was actually my own money transferred from another account. They then asked me to buy $2,000 worth of iTunes which I did.”
READ MORE: Tax office scam calls circulate the region
After a day filled with numerous phone calls, he realised what had happened and went to the police, giving them the telephone numbers that the scammers had been calling from. Unfortunately these numbers no longer existed.
“It is extremely unlikely that he’ll ever get his money back,” said Sergeant Ross Chilcott from Inverell Police. The scam has been around for many years. “There are never any circumstances where Telstra or any other business will ask for payment using an iTunes gift card or for your help to catch hackers. Quite simply, it is a scam."
The local police usually pass on reports to the Cyber Crime Unit. People are advised to then block their accounts and run a virus check.
READ MORE: Watch out for the cold call scam
There is little that Telstra can do, apart from warn people. As a courtesy, they may help those who have been scammed to remove the software. Though Coles is aware of the scam and warns people buying a suspicious amount of gift cards, Woolworths was not aware and will be raising the issue at the next staff meeting.
