Oh dear, I'm in deep dooey with the ATO

[Cage]

Just received a recorded call on my unlisted land line, so obviously a number generator, purportedly from the ATO. The guy had a Malaysian accent and said I was in deep sh!t with the ATO and to call my 'attorney'.

To discuss this matter, and to avoid decimating my meagre savings, or spend Xmas in the slammer, I should call 03 8820 5423 immediately.

Yeah, in ya' dreams a'hole !

[piczzilla]

Wow Kev, good on you for having good instincts. Scammers are getting smarter everyday.

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/te...-to-scam-money

I used to receive these funny calls all the time (Normally it's the "Congrats you just won such and such" or the "your PC is infected"). I took the most unsophisticated solution - unplugged my land line

[Cage]

hey pics

I saw this scam on one of the current affairs programs recently.

The sad part about it is that they seem to have success with the elderly and the not so well informed.

Even though the number I was given looks like a Victorian number it was probably a VOIP link from overseas.

I hate these low life scammers with a passion.

[John King]

Yeah, Kev, we get an average of about one a day on each of our 2 landlines, and occasionally on our mobiles ... r'soles .

The old canard "I am from Microsoft /Telstra tecnical support department, your Internet connection has a problem ... " is a very common one for us. Neither company has a "technical support department "....

I am usually fairly rude to them.

A good friend had to throw his PC away after ill-advisedly allowing these mongrels access to it!

[ricktas]

Yep. Very common.

One trick I learned recently is to ask them to prove they are from Telstra/ATO etc by saying, so you have my details? what is my date of birth? or what is my mother's maiden name? Of course they do not know, and then you can say well if you are from Telstra/ATO etc, you would have that information.

Or just hang up on them. Best thing I have done of late is unplug the landline phone and purely use my mobile. I threw the landline phone in the rubbish, so no chance of me plugging it back in.

[Cage]

The call I received was a recorded one so I couldn't play games with the low life.

I'd ditched my landline years ago and only have it because it came with my NBN installation. I very rarely use it and then only for local calls.

[thegrump]

I always ask for ID, which they give. Fake of cause, but it waste their time. Lately, They have been asking me if they are speaking to. "thegrump" and I reply NO you are speaking to Mr Idiot. To which they get rude.

[ameerat42]

I gotta call from "Optus" recently...

Him: "Hi, I'm [lshdco%#@*&8w30932847kj said quickly] from Optus [for some reason].
May I speak to [Am] please?"

Am: "Hi, yes, Am here."

Him: "How are you today? I just need to confirm your ID.
Can you please tell me your date of birth." (No ? as it's not really a Q.)

Am: "No, actually I will not. You called me, just cold like that, so why should I
give you any personal info."

Him: [...some response...]

Am: "Fine, but I won't."

Him: "OK, have a nice day."

Anyway, he probably was from there, but "hook airs".

[Mark L]

I have no friends, so when the landline rings it's either family or a scammer.

[tandeejay]

if you have young kids, give the phone to your 6 yr old and tell them it's santa

[Ross the fiddler]

I've had the ATO scammer leave a message on my phone. They are just scum. I've been getting 4 or 5 calls a day sometimes from these low lifes (so called Telstra IT etc).

if you have young kids, give the phone to your 6 yr old and tell them it's santa

The only one at home is a couple of decades older, so it will have to be one of the dogs instead.

[Glenda]

Haven't had that one yet but went through a period where I was getting regular ones from Microsoft claiming our computer was infected. My first question was always 'which computer' which always threw them for a while. Depending on when they call I try and keep them on the line as long as possible in the hope they'll put my number on the do not bother list. One of my BILs is a Systems Analyst and kept them on the phone for nearly an hour about a year ago, claiming he was co-operating with them, said computer crashed was waiting for it to reboot etc etc and hasn't had another call yet. Ironically he works for the ATO so could have real fun if he got a call from someone claiming to be them.

It is sad that some people have been hooked with these types of scams, especially the more vulnerable in society. I have no sympathy for those greedy ones who have been hooked by the promise of a large inheritance or making millions but can understand the unwary being taken in by someone claiming to be from Telstra/ATO etc.

[monjurulalam]

I get email from ATO every other week. They want to give my money back and asks for my financial details.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Hawthy]

It is not all bad news. The Department of Human Services wants to give me a 2016 Subsidy Benefit. http://www.hoax-slayer.net/departmen...it-scam-email/

This one is quite well put together in that the email address ends in .gov.au . I can't figure out how they did that. Of course, it is a phishing exercise - no government department will write to you asking you for such detailed financial information. Plus, the chances of me qualifying for a government benefit are somewhere between none and Buckley's. And...I don't want one.

[tandeejay]

This one is quite well put together in that the email address ends in .gov.au . I can't figure out how they did that.

It's quite easy for a spammer to spoof the from address. Just like when you send a mail by Australia Post, you can put someone else's address as the sender, so can a spammer put someone else's email address in the from address. This is why it is useless to do anything like "return to sender" on spam emails, as the marked "sender" will most likely be someone who has nothing to do with the spam/scam.

There are mechanisms in place to try and counter this, and companies can publish a list of valid IP addresses that are allowed to send from their domain, but it is still up to the mail relays to check those lists, and not all do.

[richtbw]

I really enjoy the calls from "telstra's technical dept". What shuts them up is when I say that it is fascinating that the PC gets infested with malicious files while I do not have internet. The call is disconnected immediately.

[Ross the fiddler]

I really enjoy the calls from "telstra's technical dept". What shuts them up is when I say that it is fascinating that the PC gets infested with malicious files while I do not have internet. The call is disconnected immediately.

[ricktas]

ring ring.

Microsoft Tech department. Can you turn on your computer, it is infected and we need to fix it.

me - computer is already on.

Good, what is on the screen right now

me - porn

What?

me - Porn, and you are interrupting me..

Can you please click on start

me -No! Cause I am watching porn.

They soon hang up..though I once had one tell me a website that he visited that he thought I might enjoy..

[Physioz]

ha ha! Yip, I've had the Microsoft one (often). A few years back, I also played along for over an hour and eventually reached a point where I was supposed to log onto a given URL and download some software to "fix" my PC..

The problem was the scammers must have thought they had hit another jackpot - I got several calls a day for the next few weeks. Solved the problem (1) No landline; (2) Changed to a Mac; (3) Moved to NSW from WA

[bobt]

I like to play with them ....... string them along for a while and play dumb. I got so much under one guy's skin once time that he changed from spammer voice and just said "I want to kill you ... " 8*)))

Love it!