The most sinister and common scams affecting Victorians

SAVVY scammers are out to get your hard earned cash and there are dozens of different ways they’re going about it. Take a look at some of the sneakiest scams.

SAVVY scammers are out to get your hard-earned cash and there are dozens of different ways they are going about it.

But one phone call has confused people across the state despite possibly being a scam and a prank.

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A recording aired on 3AW appears to be of a woman thanking a person for leaving a note on a car after an accident.

Australians have lost millions to scammers.

“Look just, one thing, you have got car insurance right,” the mystery woman says before leaving a long pause.

“Sorry? ‘Scuse me?” she says before she says she’s going to her insurance company.

Consumer Affairs Victoria confirmed they had no reports about the call and were unable to comment on whether it was a prank.

But there’s plenty of confirmed scams doing the rounds — here’s some of the nastiest.

CHINESE EMBASSY CALLS

This phone scams targets people of Chinese nationality by pretending to be from the embassy and demanding large sums of cash. The scammers ring from what appears to be an Australian number and often leave a voicemail in Mandarin.

People who get a voicemail or answer the phone are urged to hang-up immediately whether or not you understand, police have said.

The scammers often tell victims they have committed an offence or had their identity stolen and are asked to pay a fine or a debt.

“We’ve had incidents where the victim is threatened, or their family back in China is threatened,” Financial Crimes Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett previously said.

One victim in NSW had $1.9 million stolen by the scammers.

KIDNAPPING

Similar to the Chinese Embassy scam, this one also targets people of Chinese background but takes it to scary new levels.

The complex scam involves scammers targeting victims — mainly international students — telling them they have been implicated in crimes in China.

Scammers threaten the victims families in their home country if they don’t co-operate with requests which usually involve money, the Australian Federal Police have said.

At the same time the scammers contact the victim’s families and tell them their loved one has been kidnapped and will only be released if a ransom is paid.

Anyone who receives a call is urged to hang up and not respond to any voicemails.

Police said scammers were not sophisticated but “extremely forceful”. Picture: Stock image

ATO IMPERSONATION

Emails and phone calls purporting to be from the Australian Taxation Office target people and inform they owe money and need to pay a fine.

If they don’t pay the fine in cash or iTunes vouchers within a specified time frame the scammers claim they will be jailed.

They often target people with enough information to appear genuine, leave voicemails requesting an immediate call back and accuse victims of tax fraud and call them a criminal.

Sometimes scammers also request information such as a Tax File Number.

The tax office has repeatedly advised people to be suspicious of all contact especially if it appears threatening and to call only numbers listed on the official website.

The tax office has also told people that all correspondence ends in ato.gov.au and no other websites.

INTERNET DISCONNECTION

Victims receive calls from a person claiming to be a representative from Telstra who tell them their internet is about to be disconnected.

Anyone who questions or resists the scammer gets threatened and is told they will get sued for compromising Telstra’s infrastructure network.

Calls often claim they need to be paid to have a specialist look at the “affected” computer and tell victims to download a program so they can access a computer.

If there are any doubts about the identity of any caller who claims to represent a business, organisation or government department, contact the body directly and never give out personal or bank details.

FTO CAPITAL

Conmen claiming to be from a phony investment firm FTO Capital tell victims they would be able to get significant returns if they handed over money.

Two victims in Melbourne, aged in their 60s and 70s, lost more than $300,000 to the scammers after relenting to repeated pressure from the scammers.

A female victim said she eventually “relented” to the pressure from the scammers and realised it was all a con a day after she handed over the cash.

Detective Senior Constable Joseph Hartwig had said while the scammers were not sophisticated, they were “extremely forceful”.

THE DO’S AND DON’TS ON DEALING WITH SCAMS:

SCAMMERS target people of all ages — through the use of emails, phone calls and text messages, they can send their scams to a wide audience in a short space of time and hope they can trick someone.

Consumers who receive unsolicited phone calls requesting personal details should always ask themselves if it could be a scam — even if the caller seems to have a legitimate reason for asking.

Consumers are advised to protect themselves from falling for phone scams:

— If you have any doubts about the identity of any caller who claims to represent a government department, contact the body directly. Don’t rely on numbers, email addresses or websites provided by the caller. Find them through an independent source such as a phone book or online search.

— Do not respond to unsolicited phone calls, emails or texts requesting personal, banking or online account details.

— Do not agree to offers or deals straight away: tell the person that you are not interested or that you want to get some independent advice before making a decision.

— Do not rely on caller ID. Scammers can use internet telephone services to purchase local telephone numbers that hide the fact they are based overseas.

— Never send any money via wire transfer to anyone you do not know or trust.

— Be wary if you are asked to provide iTunes gift cards as a form of payment.

— Never give your personal, credit card or online account details over the phone unless you made the call and the phone number came from a trusted source. If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.

* Dealing with scams advice from Consumer Affairs Victoria

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