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What I wish I knew before being scammed over the phone

By Katie Cunningham | Presented by CBA |

62-year-old Susy felt alarmed when she received an urgent call from a man called Tim, who said he was from the security department of her telephone company.

Tim told her he had detected a hacker who was sending her emails with malware that could be used to access Susy's account details จC and potentially drain her bank account. But Tim said that if they acted quickly, he might be able to stop the hacker.

Susy agreed to download and install a computer program that gave Tim access to her computer. Before long, Tim had scammed Susy out of more than $90,000.

How scammers are stealing from Australians

Susy's story is not uncommon. Australians lost $1.8 billion to scams in 2021, with various agencies receiving a combined total of over 566,648 reports of scams that year.

Many scams, like Susy's, happen over the phone.?

"Phone scammers will call you unsolicited, pretending to be from a service provider you trust, such as a bank," says James Roberts, General Manager Group Fraud at Commonwealth Bank Australia. "They may ask you for personal information or instruct you to download a software application to access your computer. If you ever receive a call and the person you are speaking to asks for this kind of information then hang up."

Phone scammers typically claim to be a familiar company จC a bank, your telco or a government agency. They spin a fake but credible story that tricks you into giving them remote access to your computer or device. This gives the scammer the chance to access your bank accounts.

In Susy's case, the phone scam didn't end at the remote access. Next, Tim told Susy that she should purchase anti-malware software to avoid being hacked again in the future. At a cost of $9700, this seemed expensive to Susy, but she didn't want to lose more money in the future, and agreed to the charge.?

Tim stayed in contact with Susy จC first calling back to sell her hacking insurance he told would protect her further. He later phoned again and convinced her to invest in a company that he said was paying great dividends, so that Susy could go on the round-the-world holiday she deserved. Tim offered to help her get her started as an investor, by setting up regular transfers of $2000 to build up her shares.?

Over the next two months, automatic transfers continued. But unknown to Susy, instead of transfers of $2000, Tim was sending himself amounts that ranged as high as $20,000. By the time Susy went to the bank, they were only able to retrieve the initial transfer of $9,700, which had been sent to another financial institution. The remainder of the over $90,000 Susy had unwittingly sent to Tim was gone forever.?

How to stay protected

Stories like Susy's are scary, but there are ways to protect yourself. Firstly, be wary of any unknown contact that calls, emails, or texts you with an unexpected request to access your computer.

If you are speaking to someone who claims to be from a big organisation, be very sceptical or they try to rush you into doing something like downloading a program or transferring money. If you're unsure whether you're speaking to someone legitimate, hang up and call the organisation back on the number listed on their website.

You can also keep an eye out for unusual or unknown bank transactions จC particularly for $1, as small amounts are often used to test if your account is active before taking out larger sums of money.?

Lastly, beware of incredible offers to make easy money จC because if it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

For more ways to safeguard your information and find out more, visit CommBank Safe.

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of victims.

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