topic Re: Scam phone call in Community Spirit

Scam phone call

pats_treasures — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 05:10:59 GMT

Just a warning. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this.I had a phone call from what was supposed to be from Centrelink to tell me that I had a refund.To receive it I had to buy an Apple Itunes at a cost of $300.from Woolworths or Coles and give the registration number to the caller who would add the $300 to my refund so I would not be out of pocket.When I asked why this could not be just credited to my bank account as my pension is, I was told that someone from Centrelink would come to my house with a cheque, or I could collect in person from Canberra.

Its a scam to get your details from the Apple I Tunes registration if you bought one, so I am told..It seems that ACCC also know about this scam, but I will be reporting it. What concerns me is how did they get my phone number? Did they get it from my seller details on eBay? Are there other sources for this information? I look forward to seeing your comments.

Re: Scam phone call

springyzone — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 04:55:46 GMT

What a very odd scam. As if centrelink would make anyone buy an Apple itunes anything.

One of my friends got a phone call supposedly from taxation dept, telling her they to refund money to her from tax wrongly charged on her bank interest or some such thing. They wanted her to 'confirm' bank details.

She told them to send a cheque!!

Needless to say, another scam!

Re: Scam phone call

davidc4430 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 05:54:06 GMT

21st century man/woman is constantly hit on my 21st century pick pockets and 21st century police have no way of stopping them.

we really have gone backwards in this 21st century where we are constantly told as each new bit of technology arrives 'dont worry its safe'

i'm sure if we knew the amount of money being skimmed from honest people by criminals it would make your eyes bleed.

like the lot based in odd countries phoning you up telling you you have a huge payment due and all you have to do is pay a small fee. why is it the world doesnt just tell the country they operate from, well we wont deal with you until you stop it.

or the indian call centers ringing to fix my computer!

yes its fun letting them ramble on for as long as possible before telling them to go jump but thats not the point.

Re: Scam phone call

pats_treasures — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 07:13:11 GMT

Thank you springyzone and david4430 for your interest and comments.I reported to ACCC and they said that had I purchased the Apple I tunes card the scammer would have got a cash credit for the sale, So financial gain was the motive.I am amazed that they are so clever at thinking up these schemes to dupe people to part with their money.

The cheeky scammer rang me an hour or so later to ask if I had done as requested. Needless to say as soon as I said it was a scam and that I would be reporting him or his company/ boss the line was disconnected.

Re: Scam phone call

village_person — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:31:43 GMT

@pats_treasures wrote:
Just a warning. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this.I had a phone call from what was supposed to be from Centrelink to tell me that I had a refund.To receive it I had to buy an Apple Itunes at a cost of $300.from Woolworths or Coles and give the registration number to the caller who would add the $300 to my refund so I would not be out of pocket.When I asked why this could not be just credited to my bank account as my pension is, I was told that someone from Centrelink would come to my house with a cheque, or I could collect in person from Canberra.

Its a scam to get your details from the Apple I Tunes registration if you bought one, so I am told..It seems that ACCC also know about this scam, but I will be reporting it. What concerns me is how did they get my phone number? Did they get it from my seller details on eBay? Are there other sources for this information? I look forward to seeing your comments.

I love getting these calls. I've had a lot of scammers ringing me with the usual 'you had a car crash recently' or 'your computer may have been infected with a virus etc'.

In the case of the call from Centrelink I would tell them of my fee structure:

1. disturbance fee of $50

2. walking to Coles fee $100

3. purchase of Apple ITunes $500

4. Etc.

I tell them that my fees must be paid in cash and in advance. You can guess the response.

Re: Scam phone call

the_great_she_elephant — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:37:11 GMT

I don't normally get to hear these scam calls as my landline goes straight through to message bank. The scammers hang up and and if people genuinely want me they either leave a message or say, 'hi it's me' and I pick up. The other day though I actually did have a message left - supposed from a solicitor - saying the taxation department was taking me to court for tax evasion and to either ring, or get my lawyer to ring, the following number and they would be able to help me. The voice sounded like a robot with a very unAustralian accent.

Re: Scam phone call

cezm — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 08:45:32 GMT

Unfortunayely it's been going on for a while and by all accounts quite a few people have fallen for it

https://www.ato.gov.au/media-centre/media-releases/don-t-get-played-by-itunes-scammers/

Re: Scam phone call

mloreason — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:30:37 GMT

How do you fall for such a scam? You would have to be living under a rock to not know about these kinds of scammers. It is all over the news etc. If you know enough to have an apple id etc then you know enough to not give out your personal details to anyone offering you something for nothing. There has to be a certain amount of personal responsibility.

Re: Scam phone call

davidc4430 — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 11:54:30 GMT

@mloreason wrote:
How do you fall for such a scam? You would have to be living under a rock to not know about these kinds of scammers. It is all over the news etc. If you know enough to have an apple id etc then you know enough to not give out your personal details to anyone offering you something for nothing. There has to be a certain amount of personal responsibility.

there are many elderly people who fall for some of these fake calls. i'm sure there are others not just elderly in our scociety who get fooled. just watch the tossers on gogglebox or bigbrother or heaps of other 'reality' shows. there are some really silly people about.

others are just greedy and dont stop and think about why someone would be calling to offer a load of money to them.

Re: Scam phone call

*tippy*toes* — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 13:06:11 GMT

@pats_treasures wrote:
Thank you springyzone and david4430 for your interest and comments.I reported to ACCC and they said that had I purchased the Apple I tunes card the scammer would have got a cash credit for the sale, So financial gain was the motive.I am amazed that they are so clever at thinking up these schemes to dupe people to part with their money.

The cheeky scammer rang me an hour or so later to ask if I had done as requested. Needless to say as soon as I said it was a scam and that I would be reporting him or his company/ boss the line was disconnected.

Hindsight is wonderful, but what I would have said was "yes, I bought the itunes card". When they ask for the serial number or whatever it is they are after (I've never bought an itunes card), I would say "I gave the number to the lovely gentleman that rang me about 10 minutes ago. Does this mean I get my refund now?". It would be interesting to see what response you get.

There is a current cryptolocker attack from AGL emails. If you get your AGL power or gas bill electronically, be wary of the emails you get. The only way to unlock your computer if you get the cryptolocker virus is to pay the scammers the money. They do actually unlock it if you pay them. Problem is, the amount keeps going up! I think the only other way is to reformat your hard drive (factory reset). You would need to know how to do it via the start up screen as you can't get access to do it the regular way. A good reminder to back up all your photos and other important documents.

The cryptockers have been around for awhile, but because they have been so successful for the scammers, they keep releasing new ones, so be very careful of emails.

Re: Scam phone call

bright.ton42 — Wed, 26 Oct 2016 01:59:03 GMT

That's the one thing I'm frightened of ..... cryptolockers. How do they get access to the computer, does anyone know? Is it by clicking on a link or attachment? (which I never do)

Re: Scam phone call

janeababe — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 20:11:18 GMT

I have always had my tax done by my accountant, since 1985.
This year, after i had my tax done, i received an email from *the taxation Office* saying there was an issue with my refund, and could i get in touch with them.

I was dubious as (1) i have never given either the taxation office or my accountant this email address. (which is different to the one i had attached to my ABN some years ago)
and (2), why ask me, when they should have just contacted my accountant?

I rang my accountant and told him, he said it sounded like some sort of scam but to forward the email onto him anyway.
So i did.... turns out, it really was from the taxation dept and there really was an issue with my refund! LOL

I still dont know how they got that particular email address though........ Big brother really IS watching i guess LOL

Re: Scam phone call

davidc4430 — Thu, 27 Oct 2016 22:59:04 GMT

well i am gobsmacked the tax dept would send an email about a tax problem.

its such a well known scam people recieving these types of emails that most of us would just delete them thinking 'oh, another scam email'

i would have thought the tax dept would send a real letter that you would know was a genuine tax dept letter.

just how stupid is our tax dept?

Re: Scam phone call

*tippy*toes* — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 00:29:43 GMT

I am surprised too, especially as email is one of the least reliable ways of communication. Most ISP's these days have spam catchers, so a certain percentage of emails never arrive because they've been killed before you get them.

We got our tax back last night. Oh happy days!!!! We both pay 2nd job tax by choice, so always get a nice fat return. Bumped the bank balance well into 5 figures again. I'm one of the few that looks forward to tax time.

Re: Scam phone call

janeababe — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 21:47:43 GMT

@davidc4430 wrote:
well i am gobsmacked the tax dept would send an email about a tax problem.

its such a well known scam people recieving these types of emails that most of us would just delete them thinking 'oh, another scam email'

i would have thought the tax dept would send a real letter that you would know was a genuine tax dept letter.

just how stupid is our tax dept?

Me too....Thats why i thought it was a scsam for sure, but what made me query it was, it was addressed to my full name:
dear Mrs Jane yada yada blah blah...
and the email address of the sender appeared legit.

My accountant didnt know why they emailed me either... he was as confused as I was! LOL

Even after all that, they stuffed up again with my refund, and it took 6 weeks to get back to me. (not that it was worth the wait! LOL)

🙂

Re: Scam phone call

janeababe — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 21:56:34 GMT

@*tippy*toes* wrote:
I am surprised too, especially as email is one of the least reliable ways of communication. Most ISP's these days have spam catchers, so a certain percentage of emails never arrive because they've been killed before you get them.

We got our tax back last night. Oh happy days!!!! We both pay 2nd job tax by choice, so always get a nice fat return. Bumped the bank balance well into 5 figures again. I'm one of the few that looks forward to tax time.

Not claiming the tax-free-threshold, tippy, does it effect your take home pay much? Dont the ATO take about a 1/3rd in tax?

A team member at work also does this and he said he gets a great tax return at the end of the year.

If I allowed for a 1/3rd of my wage to be held back in tax, I wouldnt have much to take home each fortnight... lol

Bumped the bank balance well into 5 figures again
OMG: 5 figures!!
Your shout mate!

Re: Scam phone call

lyndal1838 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 04:30:17 GMT

Jane, I pay 2nd job tax on my income from doing the books/BAS etc for our business. I also have dividend income.

I draw $400 a week and pay $96 in tax. Just this month the rate changed...I could take home a few more $$ but just left it alone.

It is closer to 25% than 30%.

You may be thinking of franked dividends...most of those are 30%.

Re: Scam phone call

the_charm_place — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 08:59:00 GMT

Had that heaps lol !!!

Re: Scam phone call

davewil1964 — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 09:11:29 GMT

Give it a rest, please