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Scam calls are becoming more rampant and scammers are using different strategies to scam Australians using technology. Scammers will introduce themselves on the phone pretending to be someone else and act like you have an “unpaid phone bill” or a parcel you ordered but never arrived, or even an overdue tax bill — all excuses that they can use to obtain your identity and eventually your money.
Using a tactic called spoofing, these scammers use technology that can make it look like they are using an Australian number however the call is actually coming from abroad.
Delia Rickard, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy chairwoman, has said that these calls have been increasing “for some years” and it has become “incredibly frustrating” for authorities to track them down and block them.
“Telcos have blocked hundreds of millions of scam calls — the numbers are phenomenal,” Rickard said “We are seeing more scams and more scam calls and the phone remains the number one way for scammers to reach people,” Rickard told ABC news.
The problem has become so bad that even Rickard herself does not answer calls on her phone from numbers she does not recognize and has not used her landline in three years.
“It’s not worth it,” she says.
Rickard says that different scams target different emotional vulnerabilities in people too.
A lot of callers would pretend to be from the Australian Tax Office threatening jail time to victims due to unpaid bills which sparks fear that they will be arrested.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit scammers targeted people’s sense of hope with promising financial benefits for those hit by job losses.
“They certainly have a sucker list,” Rickard said. “If they don’t get you or they almost got you, they’ll definitely try you again.
“You can block the number for the future, but that may or may not work because scammers can use multiple numbers.
“Sadly, if you don’t recognise a number, just let it go through to voice mail, or if you pick up and quickly realise it’s a scam, just hang up,” Rickard advices.
December of 2020, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) registered rules that require telcos to detect, trace and block scam calls.
In the first 12 months when the rule code was enforced, 357 million scam calls were blocked.
Now the Communications Alliance is looking to revise the code to include SMS scam messages as well.
ACMA has also recently consulted on the proposed new rule which includes stopping scammers from targeting transactions that customers have with their telecommunications services provider like billing and service arrangements.
Unfortunately, scammers can still breach through defences but Rickard shared a few tips on how to avoid getting scammed.
“The first golden rule to remember when people are online, on the phone or on social media is that you can never really know if someone is who they say they are,” she told ABC news. “All scammers will pretend to be a trusted entity such as a bank or a government organisation.”
“They’re all looking for your money or personal details so don’t give away personal information, don’t give money, and don’t give anyone access to your computer.
“If you get a call and you’re not sure if it’s legitimate, do a Google search and double-check.
“If you get an SMS out of the blue, whatever you do, don’t click on the links in it. A massive amount of malware gets downloaded to your phone via those links.”
Scam calls can be reported at www.scamwatch.gov.au.
Dee Antenor is an experienced writer who specialises in the not-for-profit sector and its affiliations. She is the content producer for Third Sector News, an online knowledge-based platform for and about the Australian NFP sector.
