A Central West woman says a recent scam phone call was so sophisticated and convincing that she remained on the call for more than three hours.
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The woman, who did not want to be named, had given her bank details at the scammer’s request, before she realised she was being tricked.
She has not lost any money to the scam, but wants to make the details known to warn others.
The woman, who says she has had scam calls before and normally ignores them, was contacted recently by a caller who said they were from Telstra and warned the woman her computer had been hacked.
“They were so convincing,” the woman said.
Having gained access to the woman’s computer and been given her bank details over the course of a long conversation, the caller told the woman to go to the CBD and buy 10 $500 iTune cards from 7-Eleven or Woolworths.
“I was told that on the back is a code. I had to take the cards back and the code on the back would get rid of the hackers,” the woman said.
The woman had driven into the CBD with her husband and was outside Woolworths when her husband, who was Googling the instructions they had been given, realised they were caught in a scam.
The woman told the caller she was hanging up and going to the police and he warned that her computer would be locked if she did.
He was as good as his word – she can no longer use her computer – but the woman feels grateful that a visit to her bank confirmed that money had only been moved between her accounts, not lost completely from them.
To emphasise the sophistication of the scam, the woman said the bank records included transactions from “Telstra”.
“It's just appalling,” the woman said.
She has since cancelled all her cards.
The Australian Government’s SCAMwatch has previously advised consumers to hang up the phone if they receive a call out of the blue from someone claiming there is a problem with their internet or computer.
