Coast woman outsmarts convincing telephone scammer
A SUNSHINE Coast woman is warning residents not to fall victim to the latest convincing telephone scam.
Sunshine Coast
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A SUNSHINE Coast woman is warning residents not to fall victim to the latest convincing telephone scam.
Helen Rose posted to Facebook, warning Coast residents of a phone call she had received from an Australian-sounding woman claiming to be a debt collector.
Ms Rose said the scammer said she had been chasing her "for years".
"She told me I had two outstanding debts and she would need to verify me by my giving her three points of ID.
"I told her there is absolutely no chance that would be happening as I don't give out nor confirm personal information on unsolicited phone calls," Ms Rose said.
Ms Rose told the scammer if she wanted three points of identification, she should send a letter in the mail with the request.
But the scammer persisted, asking Ms Rose for her email address.
"But I refused to give her that, too," Ms Rose said.
The scammer told Ms Rose she understood the concerns and would need her updated residential address.
"I said absolutely not," she said.
"(I told her) I don't give out personal information on unsolicited phone calls so (she) will just have to put it all in a letter and post it to me.
"Then she said, 'The problem is that today is the last day that I can deal with your account and if we can't sort this out now, it will escalate to another company and additional charges will be applied to your account'."
Ms Rose said she laughed and asked the woman how it was possible, given it was the first she had heard of the situation.
"(I told her) did you know that 99.9 per cent of scams have time pressures applied," Ms Rose said.
The scammer told Ms Rose she "didn't want to argue and just wanted the situation sorted".
After reiterating to the scammer she wasn't giving out her personal information over the phone, Ms Rose wished her a good day and hung up.
Originally published as Coast woman outsmarts convincing telephone scammer
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