Weiters scammed

[DJC]

Djc that's not the point.  You can call them 7 times in 7 days the point is if you called to fact check a hacker you would get a different experience and this is the appropriate action when you need to verify if you are being hacked.

That's incorrect Thry.  The ATO doesn't have a scammer hotline and neither do the banks.  You can forward dodgy emails or SMSs and you get an automated response. 

My original post was about an SMS the ATO sent me.  It was legitimate but the only way I could have checked was to wait in a queue or use their online communication app.

Weitering's bank advises customers that they will contact you in the event of suspicious activity.  That didn't happen and the scam was sophisticated enough to convince a pretty savvy bloke that it was genuine.  It was also timed to coincide with the end of business hours making it even harder to check.

[Gointocarlton]

Weitering's bank advises customers that they will contact you in the event of suspicious activity.  That didn't happen and the scam was sophisticated enough to convince a pretty savvy bloke that it was genuine.  It was also timed to coincide with the end of business hours making it even harder to check.

That did happen though DJ in Weiters mind at least. The crims pretending to be NAB contacted him by latching onto genuine NAB text he already had on his phone.

[deepbluesee]

No matter how sophisticated the scam was, I would like to think if my bank told me to move money out of one of their accounts as it wasn't safe the alarm bells would be ringing. Maybe a move for an offer of better interest rates or loan adjustments etc but to tell me to drip feed, to the daily max, my money into another account seems very suss.
Seems unlikely that a bank would say their accounts are not safe. What,  left the safe unlocked...
And in the extreme there was a banking issue like a high level hack, the press would be all over it and moving it around, again on a daily basis, seems odd.
Really feel for the guy, and all victims,  but he must be feeling a bit silly, largely because he was.

[dodge]

The sophistication is strong on these scams - I think the bank in Weiters case does bear some responsibility as it is their SMSs that have been latched onto/hacekd/phised whatever it is.  Never a more important time to be vigilant.

While there are many operations, many scammers use trafficked people and or bonded labour - ie recruiters promise a bettter world of a job, which means that money can be sent back home to support their family.  What they don't disclose that once 'employed' the labourers' passports are confiscated, pay is low and they can't escape.  Many disappear if they put up a fuss.

The syndicates have a win win - exploit the poor and the wealthy all at once!

[Thryleon]

That's incorrect Thry.  The ATO doesn't have a scammer hotline and neither do the banks.  You can forward dodgy emails or SMSs and you get an automated response. 

My original post was about an SMS the ATO sent me.  It was legitimate but the only way I could have checked was to wait in a queue or use their online communication app.

Weitering's bank advises customers that they will contact you in the event of suspicious activity.  That didn't happen and the scam was sophisticated enough to convince a pretty savvy bloke that it was genuine.  It was also timed to coincide with the end of business hours making it even harder to check.

No its not incorrect.

The appropriate action if you think you are being scammed is to reach out to the government entity and get a fact check on the claim. 

https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/contact-us/

https://www.ato.gov.au/general/online-se...rt-a-scam/

We will sometimes contact you by phone, email, SMS and post. If you're not sure whether it's really us, do not reply. You should phone us on 1800 008 540 to check.

THIS is the appropriate action if you are suspicious of any correspondence from the ATO.

Might take a while to get through.  I've only called it once, and waited the average 20 mins to get through to someone when needed. 


Ill let you guys decide who's incorrect or not.  I'll leave this be now.  There are ways for folk to protect themselves if they are willing to try.  If not, then you run the gauntlet of working out how or what correspondance to trust, but be warned, if you are in a situation where you cannot give something the appropriate attention, there are various ways to check and prove what is saying is correct without having to do anything, but if you want to check and triple check if you are being scammed the official entities contacting you will have a method for you to do so.