Phone Scammers

The Garage
#1

G’day,

Over the past couple of days I’ve had 2 calls about “my IP being hacked” with a recorded message, leading to a person, and also another with the iPhone / eBay scam as well.

The IP ones said they were from Telstra. I laughed at the first one as I’m not Telstra… he just hung up… the 2nd time when I told him his friend already tried half an hour earlier, he gave me a mouthful…

Obviously my number’s coming up on their algorithms…

I’ve just looked online to see if I can report the mobile phone numbers as being scammers, but the Scam Watch government page is just a pain… and doesn’t seem to even be interested in phone numbers.

So - here they are:

0414 693 721
0425 943 414

(I blocked the other one and can’t find it…)

So… Just putting them out here now, not that it’ll help…

I assume they are probably routing from overseas and not Aussie based but not sure…

Anyways just had to say something.

Actually - I’ll let my parents know to be on the lookout… though the opening recorded message is pretty obviously fake…

Cheers

cosmic

#2

I never answer my phone to anyone who’s not in my contacts. If they want me they can leave a message. I normally have my phone on silent anyway & don’t always have it with me.

#3

Apparently it is easy to pretend to be calling from any number you like. It is termed phone number spoofing. Call centres use this capability legally to allow all calls to appear to come from their main company number. So there is no real advantage in blocking those numbers.

That said, I don’t understand why they use mobile numbers. I had a call the other day saying they were from the Commonwealth Bank, but it was just a mobile number. Why would a big company call from a mobile?

#4

Yeah - I’ve worked and am working now at a place where my individual phone line is not shown when I call out.

But the fact they were mobiles… I wasn’t sure if they were more likely to have some kind of more tangible aspect about them.

@richard - I typically just hang up on scammers, but I was working from home and kinda frustrated with the 2nd call, so played along. Then the 3rd, coming so soon after the other - went for it again

#5

I’ve had my phone number spoofed, had a call from a guy saying he had a missed call from my number but I assured him I hadn’t called anyone./him.

I have had ones who know stuff about me, know my name/etc but I know they’re dodgy and just hang up on them.

It’s scary now reading so many articles online of people who have been victims of scammers. And now we discover some banks just won’t pay out if you loose money from them. I suppose it depends on how you were scammed and if you provided any access to your computer remotely /etc. What I don’t understand though is are people actually giving remote access then logging into their internet banking?

anyway be careful out there!!

#6

I think that’s fair enough if it’s not the bank’s fault. There was a story in the news just the other day on recent amounts Australians have lost by being scammed. It’s in the multi billions of dollars. I think it’s unfair on the banks to pick up the tab for that. Some people who get scammed are just plain stupid it seems to me. There’s something about someone being scammed every second day on the news but people still fall for obvious ones. If you’re unsure, ask someone. I have an acquaintance whose mother has been scammed out of relatively large sums of money three times! I have never met her but he says she is quite an intelligent woman.

My wife has a friend whose whole family has been scammed out of most of their savings by her son in law. The guy scammed some bikies apparently in the same scheme so he’ll probable get his comeuppance but that doesn’t mean they’ll see their money again.

#7

Look yeah I agree - I think we just need clarity around when you are scammed and it was something that was out of your control vs when you’ve taken an action. So giving a stranger remote access to your computer vs say identity theft or getting your details through a data breach.

Separately to all this now I read somewhere recently that its best to use contactless payments always when you are out, and digital wallet (Apple Pay/Android Pay) when online if you can and avoid having to provide your credit card details. But I know this isn’t always possible.

Great discussion! And scary times, you have to always be on guard.

#8

I keep getting mobile calls from unknown numbers. I ignore them. I also get calls when someone does leave a message and if its a number I don’t recognise I will listen to the message. Well, the first few seconds of it, until I register that its a prerecorded chinese language voice which has no relevance to me. It all seems to come in waves… about 2 weeks worth then it stops until next time

#9

The one on the ABC that I read just the other day - she had a call, the person knew quite a bit about her, enough she thought it was genuine, and yes - she let them remote into her computer. I don’t know if perhaps it’s a case of the scammers copying their browser, and using saved passwords…? But in that case, soon after she had let them remote in, she got a message on her phone warning of suspicious activity - $25k being sent overseas. That was a big 4 bank, and despite warning her, and her IMMEDIATELY calling the bank - they didn’t stop the transaction, so her money was gone. St George meanwhile also warned her, BUT they stopped the transaction…

#10

That’s no good! The warning is pointless. What was the reason she let them into her computer? I would never do that!

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#11
#12

I feel sorry for this woman but I can’t believe she let someone she didn’t know have remote access to her computer. I don’t do any banking on my computer. Only on my phone. But I can’t believe the bank let this transaction go through after flagging it as suspicious. I would seriously have second thoughts about ever doing any business with NAB & if I had an account with them I would close it & tell them why. Kudos to St George Bank though.

I found the article I had read last week. Australians lost over $3.1 Billion in 2022. That is an 80% increase over 2021. $377 Million of that was through investment scams. Remote access scams come in 5th on the list at $21 Million.

#13

And that’s just what people have reported…

#14

yeah time to switch banks! wonder if there’s a list/research showing banks that have good protection/blocking for scams.

#15

I agree that the woman was at fault here. Given all the publicity about scams, no one should allow a random caller into their computer. It is like giving a stranger free run of your house and then complaining about being burgled.

There must be some line beyond which we cannot expect a bank to compensate for the losses associated with a scam. I believe allowing a complete stranger to access your computer is over that line. We all have to take some responsibility for our own actions.

I do feel sorry for the woman. However, common sense suggests that she should have hung up and then called the NAB support line to verify the caller’s identity.

I suggest banks run a public information campaign for people who are technically challenged. It should provide simple, non-technical advice about how to protect against scams, and indicate that if you don’t understand this advice, do not use critical online services such as banking.

#16

The thing is, it can happen to the best of us.

There was a YouTuber who did videos on scammers. So, you could say, he was well and truly aware of them, and how they operate. One day a scammer contacted him, and it was just the right day at the right time, with enough distracting him, and a coincidence or two thrown in, and he lost his YouTube account (for a few weeks at least, til he managed to convince YouTube of what had happened).

If your bank has enough sense to warn you that they’re suspicious about a transaction, and you contact them within minutes of that warning - surely they should at least have quarantined the transaction for a period of time before allowing it. Yes, that’s putting a lot of onus on the banks, but for their billions of dollars profit, I think they should be doing more to protect our money. At least one of the big 4 heavily advertise security as one of their features (back when I used FTA tv)…

I will say I have been pretty happy with my own experiences with CBA… I had $15 coming out each month for Netflix a few years ago, which I didn’t pick up on for about 4 months - Yes, I use Netflix, but I pay via PayPal. They refunded all of the transactions to me. And when I reported a sub$100 purchase via c/card on a website that turned out to be a scammer’s copy, they also returned my payment. But that’s very small fish compared to this poor lady… and many others.

#17

I agree with this. If St George Bank could do it, the NAB should have been able to as well. It’s not good enough.

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#18

I agree @Richard and @cosmichobo.
If the bank is suspicious about a transaction, it should put a hold on it for a time, to allow the user to review it

#19

I had to transfer $60k a few months ago for our house deposit. I went and did it in store, as I knew I’d need to increase the limit on my daily banking anyways. Whilst the “teller” was happy to do it, she pointed out several times I could have done it at home, and actually got me to type the data into her computer.

I have to pay another $40k soon to finalise everything, and am thinking I may just do it at home. I’ll be very curious to see if it’s flagged as suspicious… as it’s very much outside our normal transactions.

#20

So an AFL player has come out & said he was scammed out of a significant amount of money now. This happened last year apparently.

https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/carlton-player-jacob-weitering-shattered-after-scammers-take-life-savings–c-10480020

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