Qantas warns over phone scam claiming a bogus holiday win

QANTAS is warning consumers to hang up on an automated call scam that falsely tells customers they have won a travel prize.

QANTAS is warning consumers to hang up on an automated call scam claiming a bogus holiday win.

Criminals trying to siphon bank accounts have created a phony recorded message that tells people they have won a $999 travel prize, credit points or frequent flyer points towards their next trip.

To redeem, they are asked to press “1” and are directed to a scammer, who eventually seeks credit card details to process the prize.

A SCAMwatch alert said some consumers and businesses had received several calls in a day.

“If you hand over your credit card details, you will find that money has been taken rather than deposited from your bank account,” it warned.

Qantas said its consultants always called customers directly to discuss their bookings.

“Scammers use a range of mechanisms, including ‘harvesting’ programs that scour numerous sources on the internet, to look for customer information,” the airline said.

“It is also often the case that the recipients of the scam are not customers of the company purporting to make the phone call, which is why individuals who are not necessarily Qantas customers might have also received a phone call.”

Private numbers and those listed on the Do Not Call Register could also still receive scam calls.