Ruthless crims claiming to be scam busters swiping millions

CRIMINALS have found a way to get around people hanging up on annoying computer technical support calls – by claiming to be the ones trying to catch the scammers.

The consumer watchdog says a more elaborate version of the old “remote access” con has caught many Australians off guard, as losses from all forms of scams hit almost half a billion dollars last year.

Most Australians know to hang up when told their computer is infected with a virus and the caller needs remote access to fix the problem.

Now criminals are impersonating police or Telstra staff working with the authorities, claiming the victim’s computer has already been hacked by scammers and they can help track them down. The victims are tricked into providing access to their computer and sending money so the scammers can be “traced”, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s latest scams report said.

One elderly woman lost almost $30,000 after being asked to help other pensioners by tracking the flow of money via iTunes cards, it said.

The money lost to remote access scams almost doubled to $4.76 million in 2018.