Online scam targets Maleny residents under guise of NBN installation
Once access was given, the scammers sucked thousands from the resident’s bank account.
by Janine Hill
A MALENY resident who lost thousands of dollars in an online scam has warned others to beware.
The cunning scam appeared to target not only the victim but others who living in the same area.
The resident, who did not want to be identified, was willing to explain what happened to the Gazette to try and stop others from being caught out.
The scam began with an email advising that NBN was coming to the resident’s street.
The email caught the eye of the resident, who was tired of patchy internet in her neighbourhood and found the prospective of better connectivity was attractive.
When the resident received a phone call from someone offering to connect the NBN, the resident happily gave the go ahead and thought nothing of allowing the caller to remotely access a personal computer.
Once access was given, the scammers sucked thousands from the resident’s bank account.
The scam appears to have been cleverly crafted as the resident was one of several in the same area targeted during the same period.
“Two other neighbours within 100m of me also received phone calls within two days of my scam,” the resident said.
The resident’s friends were able to give the scammers the flick.
“They were lucky as I’d told them to be prepared for a call from NBN,” the resident said.
The victim, who is no fool, said they would not normally have handed over remote access to the computer but did so because of the email that had been sent in advance.
The ACCC’s ScamWatch provides the following information about how to recognise a remote access scam.
“On the phone, a remote-access scammer will try to convince you that your computer or internet connection has a problem that needs to be fixed using new paid-for software, or a virus that can be removed if you pay money for the scammer’s ‘technical support’ service.
“They may also claim that your upcoming nbn installation requires ‘testing’ of your phone line to check compatibility with the network.
“And these scammers will likely claim to be a staff member of large, familiar telecommunications or software companies – names like Microsoft, Telstra and nbn are commonly used – or they may claim to be providing technical support on behalf of your phone and internet provider.
“The scammer will likely make different claims about the nature of your (fake) ‘problem’.
“This may include bogus claims that your computer is sending error messages, your internet connection has been hacked, or that your phone line or internet speed has been impacted by your computer’s poor performance.
“Do not agree to this under any circumstances.”