Beware the savvy scammer – Telstra Scam data and warning to Aussies

I think we’ve all known it, those scammers are a savvy bunch. They aren’t just evil people with a cunning idea any more, they are professional businesses looking for new ways to scam you, and our Telcos are doing a lot to prevent it – but those scammers are finding new and innovative ways to catch you out!

There’s good news though, according to the National Anti-Scam Centre, scam losses dropped 25% last year with overall reporting down 17% – so something’s working.

A lot of those reduced reports can be attributed to the work our telcos are doing, and Telstra’s latest data shows they blocked on average 18 million phone calls every month last financial year.

At the same time another 8 million scam text messages were blocked. Telstra’s newer call “flagging” technology which doesn’t block the calls but makes it clear to the recipient that Telstra suspects something – also flagged 56 million calls since November.

Problem is, those scammers are finding new ways.

Think about this, the advice for years has been to lookout for those scammy text messages with links in them trying to trap you and trick you.

Well now, it seems, scammers are moving to text threads, and they’re being more conversational – even less urgent.

Problem there is, by simply replying “Yes” you are validating your phone number – just like answering a call, and then saying hello to a scammer.

When they know you’re real, your number’s value increases and you’ll start getting more and more scam messages and calls.

The advice overall, is still to take a step back. Don’t respond fast, think about it. Always consider the concept of it’s too good to be true, and use the tools available to you. Every smartphone should be protected by Internet Security it’s an extra layer of help for you – to save you being ripped off.