Phone scammers target the south-west
1st June, 2020:
South West Credit is warning Warrnambool residents to be alert to scam phone callers who are demanding people hand over personal and banking details.
Claiming to be a ‘Fraud Department’ or ‘Monitoring Team’ at a bank, or even pretending to conduct a 'Consumer Survey', the phone callers are targeting residents many of them elderly and who are just beginning to emerge safely from their homes following COVID-19 lockdown.
South West Credit CEO, David Brown, has warned “scammers will make a victim of anyone who answers the phone and use their shameful tactics to get personal information they later use to try and access funds AND steal your identity”.
Many elderly residents have been isolated in their homes and often do not think twice about answering a call they see might be from a local or City number. However, as Mr. Brown says” they use technology to make the call look like its local when in reality they are overseas”. He added all they care about is harvesting information to steal and wreak havoc on people’s lives.
South West Credit provides the following advice to residents who suspect a scam phone call:
- Immediately hang up and call your banking institution. Financial institutions will not ask you to verify bank details, or reveal PIN numbers and access codes in an unsolicited call.
- Don’t trust information provided by the scammer. For example, when the scammer volunteers a phone number to be contacted on. Call your banking institution directly on their main number located from their website or phone book.
- Keep your banking details safe at all times. Scams operate out of call centres and are highly organised activity. They know how to coerce people into providing information for the purpose of stealing funds from your accounts or make transactions.
If you have any reason to suspect that a phone scam has occurred, please contact your bank immediately.
Please share this with your family and friends to increase awareness.
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