Hello all,
I think that all of you will be pretty aware and savvy when it comes to
scams that come by email, phone, SMS, etc.
And usually I can detect a scam straight away.
But this afternoon I received a phone call that was a reality check for
being extra vigilant, and thought I would share what happened with you as
anyone of you could be similarly targeted.
The phone rang and when I picked up an automatic voice announced the call
was from the Department of Human Services, and to press 1 for further
prompts I did.
The automated voice then announced that the Department of Human Services
had sent me several letters to which I had not responded, and as a
consequence, my file had been transferred to a special bureau in Canberra
for review. The voice then instructed me to call a phone number and a code
I needed to quote for reference. That is when the little voice in me
thought, "suss".
I have a myGov account and would have received any legit letters via that
account, plus email notifications, so no need to worry about print letters
going astray etc.
So I did not follow the instructions and I tried to call the normal
Centrelink DSP line 13 27 17. After a very long wait an no answer, I tried
the AFP, who transferred me to Scam Watch, who confirmed it was
definitely a scam. You can read about the scam here:
https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/spike-in-centrelink-scams
The Department of Human Services also has information about other current
scams at:
https://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/scams
Given the current Centrelink data matching and debt collection activities
that have received coverage in the news and on social media, it is not
surprising that scammers have tried to cash in on the situation. The use
of new means of communication is not that unusualthese days, so the
automated phone call was not in itself that odd.It sounds very authentic,
unlike those calls that obviously come from a call centre nowhere in
Australia, purporting to be from ATO, etc.
I Hope this post helps others not to waste 2 hours trying to sort out if
they need to worry about such calls.So the advice from Scam Watch and the
Department of Human Services is, if you get such an automated phone call
from a government agency, hang up.
Cheers,
Gisele
Gisele Mesnage
email: giselemesnage@xxxxxxxxxxx
phone: 02 9799 5388