15/05/2020
Beware NBN telephone scam.
Scammers are using trusted brands such as NBN, Telstra and Microsoft to trick unsuspecting consumers into allowing them accessing to their home computers. In 2018, Australians lost an average of $38,000 each month to this type of scam. In 2019 this increased to $110,000 each month and in 2020 this figure has almost doubled.
How can you tell if a scammer is contacting you? here's some examples...
- Someone pretending to be from NBN or an internet provider calls a victim and claims there is a problem with their phone or internet connection, which requires remote access to fix. The scammer walks you through a few short steps on your computer that allows them access and they then install malware or steal valuable personal information, including banking details.
- Scammers pretending to be the NBN, advising that your services will be disconnected. Usually a robotic message and to stop the action you need to speak with technician. Again, they try and access your computer to steal information or install software that snoops through your computer.
- Scammers may also call or visit people at their homes to sign them up to the NBN, get them a better deal or test the speed of their connection.
- Scammers may call advising they are from Microsoft Technical Team and say they can see your computer is infected. They walk you through a couple of steps to show you some system errors and make out that this is the virus when in fact these caution and stop errors are 'normal'. Again they try to persuade you into giving them remote access to your computer and then either charge you for the repair (you pass your credit card details to them) or repair for free and in the background steal information and infect your computer.
- They may ask people to provide personal details such as their name, address, date of birth, and Medicare number or ask for payment through gift cards.
- Scammers calling you during a blackout (power outage) offering you the ability to stay connected during a blackout for an extra fee.
If you think your computer systems have been infected, call Infiniti IT and arrange a cost effective IT Healthcheck.