The scammers calling from numbers that appear to be based in Australia and pretending to be from either the victim’s bank stating their account has been compromised and asking for personal data.
“We are incredibly concerned about bank impersonation scams because they can be so convincing, they are very hard to detect,” Ms Lowe warned.
“What’s equally worrying about this particular scam, is that it is emptying every last cent out of victims’ savings accounts, with losses averaging $22,000 and more than 90 reports of losses between $40,000 and $800,000. This causes both financial and emotional devastation.”
“We know of a man who lost over $500,000 after receiving a call from someone claiming to be from a major bank’s security department, wanting to know if a payment had been authorised.”
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The ACCC urges people to never provide online banking passwords, one-time security codes, pins or tokens to anyone over the phone. Contact your bank or financial institution immediately if you think you have been scammed.
ACCC’s Scamwatch also advises careful consideration and checks before sending money to anybody, and to think twice before clicking on unsolicited links, even if they appear to come from a business or person you trust.
“It is critical to remember that no matter how legitimate the call or message seems, a bank won’t ask you to urgently transfer funds.”
To keep your accounts secure, they recommend using strong passwords, regularly updating security software, and enabling multi-factor authentication if possible.
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