Qantas scam text exposed: ‘Don’t call the number’
Aussies have been warned about a new scam text doing the rounds. This is what it looks like.
A new scam targeting Aussies has been doing the rounds, this time purporting to be from Qantas.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch urged anyone who received the text to think twice before reacting.
The text claims a new flight has been booked by the receiver, and encourages them to call a provided number if they were not the person who booked it.
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However, ringing the number would actually put the potential victim through to a scammer looking to steal their hard-earned money.
“Beware of text messages saying you have bought a ticket or made a purchase and asking you to click a link or call a number if it wasn't you,” Scamwatch said.
“This is a scam. Don't call the number.”
Anyone who receives the message has been urged to report the scam to Scamwatch.
Text message scams on the rise
The federal budget provided $10 million over four years to establish a new SMS sender ID registry.
The registry will act as a blocking list and help stop scammers from impersonating major brands and government agencies such as Linkt, myGov, Australia Post or your bank.
Almost half of Australia’s population received a fake SMS message in 2022, with Aussies losing an estimated $3.1 billion to scams last year.
Text messages were the leading contact method for scammers, according to the ACCC, making up one in three scam reports, compared to 29 per cent for phone calls.
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