Scamwatch issues warning over fake Telstra letter as scammers become more savvy

Australians have been warned over letters being sent from “Telstra” asking for help with a “secret mission”.

Scamwatch has issued a warning as letters purporting to be from the nation’s biggest telco begin appearing in Australian letterboxes.

It’s the latest in a series of scams targeting vulnerable Australians under the false pretence of an unpaid debt that needs to be paid.

“BEWARE, scammers are using letters like this to convince people to withdraw money and hand it over in person to someone that will collect it from their home,” Scamwatch wrote in a tweet to its 37K followers.

“This is a scam. Warn your friends, family, and neighbours.”

The letter features a Telstra logo in the centre of the page and pretends to have been sent from the “Telstra Technical department” based in Melbourne.

“This is to inform you that we have examined your network and identified (a) few hackers active in it,” the letter reads.

Scammers have now targeted Telstra customers. Picture: Sora Shimazaki on Pexels

“We have to run an operation to get rid of them and we have already notify (sic) you about that.”

The letter then goes on to explain money has been sent to the recipient's bank account and they need to “hand over” money to a “Telstra agent”.

“As per the conversation we have sent $AUD into your bank account which you have already taken for this operation,” the letter reads.

“Now you have to hand over that sponsored money of Telstra to one of our Telstra agents.

“You will get the rest of our details from our investigating officer.”

BEWARE, scammers are using letters like this to convince people to withdraw money and hand it over in person to someone that will collect it from their home. This is a scam. Warn your friends, family, and neighbours. pic.twitter.com/ur4ZfOFENo

— Scamwatch_gov_au (@Scamwatch_gov) February 6, 2023

The sender then asks for the recipient’s co-operation to help track the “hackers” and follow any future instructions from a “technician”.

“We are requesting you to co-operate with us in this operation to trace these hackers for the next 24 hours,” they say.

“You just need to get stuck in with our technician during these time period (sic) and he will tell you all about the required strides.”

Alarm bells ring when the letter writer asks the recipient “not to disclose” the letter to anyone as it is a “secret mission”.

“We also expect you not to disclose this matter to anyone and follow protocols of Telstra, as it is a secret mission to catch the hackers till it get finished (sic).

“We do appreciate that greatly and will send you further mails about these (sic).”

Australians lost more than $381m to scams by August 2022, an increase from the $324m lost the year prior, according to Scamwatch.

A Telstra spokesperson said the telco remained committed to protecting customers from criminal scammers who “regularly find new ways to scam and circumvent Australian laws”.

Telstra have blocked 225 million SMS scams on their way to customers – about 775 messages blocked every minute between April and December 2022.

Telstra tips for avoiding these kind of scams

• Always check the spelling and grammar in the communications as this will often be a dead giveaway of a scam or highlight that the communication is not from the legitimate provider.
• If you feel you are being pressured on a call or in communications to share personal identification or banking / financial information, end the call and call the represented organisation on their official number.
• Be sceptical – If it sounds too good to be true, it more than likely is.
• Never click on links in unsolicited messages.

Originally published as Scamwatch issues warning over fake Telstra letter as scammers become more savvy