Message scam

[Log Dog]

Got a text message today from unknown number
Says my Commonwealth bank account details have changed
And to ring a certain number if info incorrect(132221)
Thing is ...I don't bank with Commonwealth
Scam perhaps ?
Log Dog

[Picko]

Yeah, I've had similar from 'westpac' and I don't bank westpac. I think the ones I got had a website link or something that I ignored.

[jazzy69]

We have been getting heaps of weird ones ever since we did online census.
Regards,
Ross

[Log Dog]

Message states it was updating my mobile number
Sure gives me the heebie geebies
Log Dog

[taz01]

Scammers are out in force at the moment.

The most common one are robocalls from either the ATO or services nsw (or other state equivalent).

Be careful everyone.

[rrich]

It is comforting to know that we are not the only ones being targeted by the scammers.

1 ~ Your social security number has been suspended
2 ~ The IRS has issued a warrant for your arrest
3 ~ There is an outstanding warrant
4 ~ Your vehicle warranty has expired (or is about to)
"Really? Which one? I have 27 down at the shop" Then the fun ensues. Information? It's down at the shop. or Which one?
5 ~ Your electricity is about to be shut off for non payment
6 ~ Your {Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, xyz credit card} account has been comprised
7 ~ We need your address to return a package that you sent
8 ~ Please confirm your credit card number for a refund (for something that you never purchased)

Then there is the grandparent scam
"Do you you know who this is?" "Yeah it is the Bonobo" "I've been arrested for texting while driving. I hit someone"
"Where are you" "City name" "What are you doing in city name?" "I was here with Benjamin"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told your Father. If you get arrested don't waste your phone call to call me. If you got yourself in jail, get yourself out"
Then I'll usually hear some of the foulest language ever, all the while I'm laughing.

[skot]

I remember getting one that said "Your vehicle was involved in an accident "

I asked which vehicle and what was the rego number. When they say that they don't have that information..just that I was involved in an accident, I call them out with "How did you get my phone number then ? If you can not identify the car."

Conversation doesn't last long after that.

[taz01]

If you want a real eye opener watch a couple of videos from jim browning on youtube.

He exposes these scumbags and the ruthless tactics they use, often on quite vulnerable people.

[Mobyturns]

Yes, scumbags are behind these scams. One scam call we get constantly is "Hi this is Nicole from NBN .... your telephone service is about to be disconnected." We were one of the early trial "fibre to the home" NBN suburbs and have been connected at least five years now. So a bit late with the warning.

I've lost count of the scam phone calls, which I will occasionally engage if I'm feeling mischievous and want to return the favor. My favorite one is "your computer is sending spurious data on the internet" it offers plenty of scope to be creative "Oh I'm terribly sorry, what can I do to stop that? Just wait a minute I have to start the computer. Its a bit old like me so it takes a while. Whats the weather like where you are? ...... " Almost 15 minutes is about my limit though.

I never respond to email or text scam messages - I delete immediately, then clear the "deleted" bin.

It is scary just how effective some viruses are - especially how they are hidden or "called" from an apparently benign source.

"Let's be careful out there",

[AlexS]

Daughter is involved in internet security. She said that as soon as the pandemic started, a whole new scam industry also started. Many private players, but also state-sponsored.

A bloke I knew on another forum, now sadly deceased, was a retired IT pro who delighted in taking on scammers. His best effort was to convince the scammer that because he was elderly and had a poor command of English, he wasn't able to explain what he saw on the screen when he pressed the keys they told him to, but he could send them a screenshot...which the idiot downloaded. One scammer's computer out of action permanently.

[Mobyturns]

Given the brains, technology and resources of global goliath's like Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, & the Telcos one would think we could nail scammers permanently, and quite easily.

Not so! and why not so?????

Jeff Bezos can launch himself into space, in a game of one-upmanship with Branson, and acknowledge gleefully that his employees and consumers have paid for it

Facebook can place an advert on your timeline within seconds because you used a word or phrase in messenger, in a post, or a reply, that an advertiser is paying huge sums to have potential customers identified and have a "revelant to you" advert / content placed on your timeline.

Why can't scammers be stopped - because it costs these goliaths money to do so, and does not make them money! Unless of course you pay for the premium "ad free" version, which may not stop "revelant to you" content, just the blatant adverts.

Calling line ID is easily spoofed, and all forms of electronic communication can be compromised, often with disastrous outcomes for victims. So where are the watch dogs??? MIA because they are very deliberately not resourced adequately to actually monitor the goliaths activities.

Cynical, but true.

[rwbuild]

Had about 6 of these in the space of a week, blocked their numbers and logged them to scam watch, haven't had any since but they will come from a new batch of low life's.

[A Duke]

Hi,
It mystifies me that we never hear of any of them being prosecuted.
The sums they are trying to steal should put them behind bars for a good couple of years.
Regards

[woodPixel]

On Reddit many are openly complaining to a multitude of authorities.

People are being DELUGED by scams.

The "authorities" are.... invisible / unreactive / missing / absent / toothless / pointless / incompetent / in collusion... (choose more than one!)

[Log Dog]

Lately too I've been getting messages from various interstate medical clinics confirming appointment times that I am oblivious to
Spooky stuff
Log Dog