Gone in seconds: Telco issues major scam warning

Veterans in the telecommunications space warns Australians are falling for scams within seconds, urging them to slow down before parting with their hard earned money.

Australians are handing over their money to scammers in just a matter of seconds, as sophisticated syndicates create a sense of urgency to potential victims.

TPG general manager of technology security Lee Barney told NewsWire at the TPG Telecom cyber centre of excellence scammers rely on a sense of panic.

“People fall for phishing scams within 10 seconds of arriving in the mailbox. I have seen people fall for phisher within a second.

“If I was to give advice to anyone, slow down, question everything, if you’re doing anything electronic, fully engage with it.

Australians are losing their money within just seconds to scammers. Picture: NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

Australian Federal Police team leader – cybercrime investigations Kris Wilson said while it is dependent on the scam, once the victim has sent the money to a scammer it can be incredibly hard to get the money back.

Using the example of an investing scam Mr Wilson said these scams are usually a two step process.

“There will be an initial lure. Once a person’s identification has been collated and on sale, they will typically have a conversation with someone advertising a fake investment scheme to lure them in,” he said.

“These sales pitches are pre-planned and predetermined with a script similar to what an actor would see. It is professional level and designed to make the victim say yes.”

Mr Wilson said the victim will initially be lured in by a smaller investment, with a professionally designed investment website used to show the victim has made strong financial gains.

“The website will show false gains and they will be called again, for a new investment. But this time the person thinks they are doing well and then it will be a big hit and the money is gone within a matter of minutes,” he said.

Australia is currently the biggest victim of scam in the world, with Australians losing $100 per head compared with $45 per head in the United States. In the UK scammers are losing around $34 per person.

Australians continue to lead the world in scamming losses. Picture: NewsWire / Nicholas Eagar

“We are a green country, as we are very rich for targeting and are the number one targeted country in the world.”

“Our superannuation scheme in Australia has a large part of it, especially off the back of cost-of-living spikes. People are finding their retirement balances might not be great enough to live off and are looking for investment opportunities to boost their super.,” Mr Wilson said.

The two experts say scammers are targeting Friday nights to scam Australians given banks will have less staff on during weekends.

“We see it on Friday night, that is when we see people try to compromise our network,” Mr Barney said.

“Mr Wilson said “it works effectively because the banks are not open weekends so to get someone to block or check an account is more difficult.”

The call from TPG comes just days after The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) issued an alert warning of scammers impersonating the Australian Cyber Security Centre.

“The scam emails and phone calls also create a sense of urgency to try and pressure you into doing something quickly,” the ACSC sent out on the afternoon of 3 February.

“Often, this will include threats that if you do not act now, something terrible will happen.”

The ASD said the government will never ask for personal details such as passwords, answer to security questions or send emails with a link to antivirus software.

“We will never threaten or pressure you to stay on the line,” the statement said.

”A real ASD’s ACSC employee will always encourage you to hang up and call 1300 CYBER1 to confirm you are speaking to us.”