Be alert to Telstra “gift card” scam, South Australia

Police are warning the community to be on high alert to scammers after another victim was fleeced of several thousand dollars following a “gift card scam”.

A Hills Fleurieu resident reported she received a call from a scammer pretending to be from Telstra who needed to fix a ‘virus’ on her computer. The victim was instructed to provide on-line access to the lap top including access to her internet banking.

The victim was then told to buy a number of gift cards, including “Google Play Cards” and provide the codes to the scammer. The scammer further instructed the victim to purchase an amount of Bitcoin.

Police wish to remind the public that telecommunications companies will not make contact with you by telephone to advise that you are suffering a security breach. And they will never expect payment of any sort in gift cards.

Scammers can sound extremely convincing, but legitimate companies will not tell you to lie to anyone, the will not create crypto currency accounts / wallets in your name and expect you to lie about it to the crypto currency provider.

Never give your bank details, or transfer money and never purchase gift cards for anyone requesting you to do so over the phone.

Remember to protect yourself – most scammers contact people by phone or on the internet, so:

*hang up when someone you don’t know calls

*immediately delete emails from people you don’t know, and from agencies or businesses that you didn’t agree to receive emails from – and don’t click on links in those emails

*never send money online to someone you haven’t met in person.

*independently contact the government agency from a phone number or website that you have located and were not directed to before providing any money or personal details to a cold caller

For more information about how to protect yourself, please visit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s ScamWatch website: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/protect-yourself-from-scams

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