A RECENT “crooked” call from a “very well spoken” woman regarding resolution of a computer problem has raised alarm bells for a computer-less Tresco resident.
The landholder, who did not wish to be named, received the cold-call last week.
He said the caller claimed to be from Telstra and told him there was an issue with his computer.
“We were in having an early tea, about 6.15pm or 6.30pm, the phone rang and at that time of day we often get those kind of scam calls,” he said.
“It took a while after I picked up the phone before anyone answered and there was that clicking sound that usually happens when a call is connecting [long distance].
“[The caller] said her name was Naomi from Telstra and said: ‘I must warn you… your computer has been accessed’ — she was quite definite about it.
“I sort of led her on a bit and she continued, saying the data had been accessed 12 times.”
The landholder then told the caller his computer had been working well earlier that day at which point he was asked for “numbers” to identify the computer to fix the problem.
He declined and soon hung up on the “very well spoken” caller.
“The thing I didn’t tell her is that we don’t have a computer on the farm,” he said.
According to Telstra, last year the number of reports from customers about scam calls “increased four-fold”.
Telstra Country Wide Central Victoria and Sunraysia area general manager Steve Tinker said Telstra was increasing efforts to raise awareness about the unethical conduct of rogue telemarketers and telephone scammers.
“We know our customers receive phone calls from people impersonating Telstra staff, who try to switch them to another telephone company, or try to gain access to their personal information,” he said.
“The conduct of these people makes it difficult for customers to tell the difference between a call made by an authentic Telstra representative, and a call made by someone impersonating a Telstra representative.”
For more information on Telstra scams or to report rogue telemarketers and telephone scammers call Telstra on 1800 260 270 or visit telstra.com/verify
The SCAMwatch website — www.scamwatch.gov.au — has information on further scams and how to avoid falling victim.
