Warning on bogus text
THE nation’s consumer watchdog is warning Tasmanians of an elaborates cam currently circulating via text message.
Text messages offering birthday gifts under the guise of a Harvey Norman promotion have been reported among Tasmanian residents.
Tasman Peninsula accommodation manager and Author Janice Sutton is one local resident who almost took the bait.
“I’ m normally someone that picks up a scam really easily,” she said.
“I have just received a message with a Harvey Norman picture (and) logo saying I had been awarded a gift for my birthday.
“They had a list of people who made comments about their prizes that were all ordinary people that looked believable .”
The fact that the scammers knew her date of birth and the fact she has a similar – legitimate – rewards arrangement with Myer only added to the scam’s validity, according to Ms Sutton.
However, it was the process of claiming the prize that raised flags.
“I went through the process and all seemed OK until it asked you for your bank details to pay a small postage fee ,” she said.
“At that point, I realised it was a scam.”
A copy of the message obtained by the Mercury exhibits clear Harvey Norman branding, a personalised coupon code and realistic user reviews of previous claimed prizes. Ms Sutton believes is was a phishing scam.
A spokesman from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission confirmed the scam.
“We have received 10 reports of a text message impersonating Harvey Norman mentioning ‘Birthday giveaways’ in 2020. These were all received in October,” the spokesmansaid.
“None of the 10 reports specified a loss, but several indicated they provided credit card details to pay for the delivery.”
According to the AC CC, the “birthday giveaway” Harvey Norman impersonation scam starts with the victim getting a text message addressed to their first name with a link to a website and states they have a prize waiting to be collected.
The link leads to a website claiming a Harvey Norman give away that says the recipient has won an expensive item and needs to enter their credit details to pay a small amount for delivery.
The website includes a countdown timer and a fake social media comments section at the bottom implying the commenters have received an item.
Ms Sutton said as her details were available online, she feared a scam attempt would happen again.