Techit Computers

A Murraylands resident has fallen victim of a phone scam costing him thousands of dollars.

On Wednesday 9 June, the victim received a call on his mobile phone from a man enquiring if he had purchased anything from Ebay. The victim advised he hadn't and the man then informed him his phone had been hacked and that they would help him get his money back.

Over the course of the day, the victim was contacted several times with the suspect gaining remote access to the victim's phone. The suspect was then able to perform several transactions and stole over $40,000.

Unfortunately scams are everywhere and they can be quite elaborate with scammers presenting as genuine. They target a diverse range of people across Australia.

If you receive a call and cannot be certain who you are speaking to, hang up the phone and make contact with the organisation on a known, reputable number or alternate contact method such as an email address from their website.

Please share this information with friends, family, and the wider community in an effort to prevent this from happening to someone else.

For more information about how to protect yourself, please visit the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s ScamWatch website: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/protect-yourself-from-scams

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South Australia Police have identified an increase in Remote Access Scams, where unsuspecting victims are receiving calls out of the blue and are being requested to download software onto their phone or computers to resolve account hacking issues.

Whilst these types of scams are not new, scammers are adapting to the December online shopping frenzy; moving away from misrepresenting telco companies and towards major online shopping platforms such as EBay and Amazon.

Victims are receiving unsolicited phone calls, with the caller informing them that their online shopping account has been hacked or an illegal purchase has been made. The caller then informs the victim that in order to rectify the issue, they will need to download an app onto their phone or software onto their computer. Unfortunately, the software downloaded is a type of remote access tool, which provides the scammer will full access and control of the phone. This means they will now have access to personal information, passwords and online accounts. Once the scammers have control of the device, large sums of money are then moved from the victim’s online banking accounts without their permission or knowledge.

South Australia Police recommend that people do not download software or apps that they are not familiar with, and particularly never at the direction of someone over the phone.

If you receive a call and cannot be certain who you are speaking to, hang up the phone and make contact with the organisation on a known, reputable number or alternate contact method such as an email address from their website.

For further information on scams affecting South Australians, please visit www.police.sa.gov.au/scams