Consumers warned on eleborate new scams
People are being warned about a new wave of highly sophisticated scammers offering to refund bank fees.
The warning comes as one Adelaide man tells his story of how he received a call from a scammer who already had all his personal details.
Speaking to 7News, Barry Egan said he initially thought it was a call from his bank.
“They had all my bank details,” he told 7News.
“They knew who I was, my card number, date of birth, address.”
He said he lost his trust in the caller when asked to pay a ‘government tax’, and the scammer then told him to wait for a call from the ‘Office of Fair Trading’.
Mr Egan took matters into his own hands and called the office himself, which then told him about the elaborate identity theft racket.
Authorities have warned people there are thousands of bogus offers regularly catching innocent people out.
They say the ones to watch out for are those offering supposed ‘fee refunds’, ‘investment opportunities’, ‘voucher text messages’ and ‘scratchy scams’.
If you have any concerns about scammers, visit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) SCAMwatch website.
