By KATH GANNAWAY
AN Upper Yarra pensioner said her worst fears were realised when she was scammed by computer hackers.
The woman has asked that she not be identified, but wanted to warn others after falling prey to hackers claiming to be from Telstra.
The woman, in her eighties, got an email alert on a Friday night saying that hackers had compromised her Big Pond account.
When she contacted the sender she was given details that she believed were only known to Telstra, and other information that led her to believe the call was genuine.
“Against my better judgement, I gave access to a credit card for a ‘once only’ $10 charge to cover five years,” she said.
She said she was uneasy and suspicious but was won over by the ‘helpful’ exchange.
The scammers let her know she had been had with a crude email message that popped up on screen taunting her with foul language and insults.
“They’d have known from my data that I’m over 80 … maybe that’s one reason why they targeted me,’ she said.
They had disabled her internet and landline and her mobile was flat, which she said they knew.
“It was after 10pm. I felt helpless,” she said. She was able to phone her bank from a neighbour’s phone and cancel her card, but said she was told the hackers were in the process of withdrawing money from the card.
She said the hackers had asked her about a second credit card, but that she had denied that she had one.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s SCAMwatch site has warned about scammers pretending to be from Telstra Technical Support.
SCAMwatch and Telstra have warned consumers to hang up if they receive a call from out of the blue from someone claiming there is a problem with their internet connection or computer.
According to SCAMwatch there has been an increase in reports of scammers using the same techniques as the Upper Yarra victim and warn that they can be very convincing creating a sense of urgency and inciting fear and anxiety on a number of levels.
For information about staying safe online visit telstra.com.au/cyber-safety.
For further information on recognising, avoiding and reporting scams, visit scamwatch.gov.au.
