Transport NSW warns Opal card users of sinister text scam

Australian commuters are being warned about the latest debt collection scam tricking unsuspecting passengers.

Passengers are being asked to pay fake debts for failing to ‘tap off’. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Unsuspecting commuters are being warned of a sinister new text scam where scammers are purporting to be Transport for NSW.

There have been reports this week of a circulating text message telling commuters they have an outstanding payment after failing to tap-off at the end of their journey.

“Text messages have been circulating with false information that could appear to come from Transport for NSW,” Transport for NSW said in a statement posted to social media.

“We will never send you an SMS asking you to provide/update details without being logged in securely to your Opal account.

“Please don’t click on the link.”

Transport for NSW will never contact commuters via text. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Monique Harmer

Multiple people commented saying they had already received and deleted the scam text, with one person saying, “I have already received one of these and deleted immediately.”

“I have just got one,” said another.

Some social media users instead took advantage of the opportunity to poke fun at Sydney’s public transport system.

“I’m glad there is zero public transport here,” one commenter said.

“Wouldn’t friggin surprise me if it was real,” said another.

The scam in question has seemingly mimicked sender information and looks convincingly like a legitimate message.

“Our system record shows that you have one trip failed to tap-off,” the scam text reads.

“Please pay this outstanding invoice immediately.”

Anyone who receives the text is being urged not to click on the hyperlink and to delete the message. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

The recipient is then directed to click on a “transgov.org” hyperlink that takes them to an external website.

Commuters who do not tap on or off correctly “will be charged the default fare for an incomplete trip which is the maximum possible fare for that service”, the Transport for NSW website reads.

This comes one day after Scamwatch issued an alert on social media over a Telstra letter scam urging 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,” Scamwatch said.

Both of these scams are the latest in a series targeting vulnerable Australians. Scammers pose as official organisations asking them to rectify an unpaid debt.

This scam comes as Scamwatch issued an alert over a Telstra letter scam also tricking vulnerable Australians into thinking they owe an unpaid debt. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gaye Gerard