Call for caution as scammers hit

Senior thwarts ‘bloody mongrels’

AN ELDERLY Banora Point resident says “bloody mongrels” tried to scam her over the phone.

The 89-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, did not fall for the scammers’ tricks but was concerned others might fall prey.

She received a phone call on May 7 which played a recorded message.

It warned her phone would be disconnected and asked her for computer access via the internet to stop this happening.

“It said ‘your phone will be disconnected this afternoon due to suspicious circumstances, but your internet will be all right and you can use that’, but I don’t have internet. That sort of thing,” she said.

“I just didn’t say anything.

“I was quite upset. “At first I thought, ‘please don’t turn my phone off – my bill is already paid’.

“Luckily I’ve still got the marbles.”

The Tweed region resident said she thought to run the call by a friend, who told her it was a scam.

“It really took me by surprise,” she said.

“Maybe I can help someone else by warning them.”

The woman said she previously made eight calls to a friend which were missed as their device was switched off.

“When these people said ‘suspicious calls’ I thought it was because I rang these friends so many times,” she said.

Fortunately, the woman still felt the call was strange and hung up.

This type of scam is often referred to as a remote access scam or tech support phone scam.

Callers pretend to be offering technical support to gain access to computers, potentially leading to financial repercussions or identity theft.

New South Wales Police Force advises scams can be reported to local police stations, or online through the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network.

Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer and never give personal or banking details out over the phone unless you’re speaking to a trusted source.