Weiters scammed

[DJC]

I recently got a text message from the ATO warning that unless I did X, Y and Z, my ABN would be cancelled.  I checked the ATO website and found that text messaging was one of the ways the ATO communicates with taxpayers.  I was still dubious and not too fussed about my ABN so I did nothing.  My ABN has now been cancelled.

A week or so later I got a text from CentreLink advising that I was about to get a call from a number with no caller ID and I should answer the call.  I was on another call and didn't answer.  Two weeks later I got a letter from CentreLink saying that I didn't answer their phone call and had to fill in a questionnaire.

Ms DJC got a text message last week that said, "Hi Mum, I dropped my phone in the toilet and I'm trying to dry it out.  Call me on my old number #$#%^&**+"  Both of our children still have their original mobile numbers.  A little later Ms DJC got another text saying, "I've got some bills to pay ..."  Thousands of Australians have been caught out by that scam,

The scammers are often incompetent and easy to detect.  Others are more sophisticated and can suck in the most cautious and IT savvy folk.  It's easy to sit back and say that Jacob should have known that it was a scam, but that's not how it works when you're under pressure and think that you're going to lose your money.  Banks, internet providers and the phone companies need to do a lot more to make life difficult for the scumbags that stole Jacob's money.