A phone scammer was unlucky enough to land one of his random calls with our own Barrier Police Crime Manager, Detective Inspector Tom Aylett, who decided to play along with the call so he could help to inform and protect the community from the latest scam.
Barrier Police are warning the Broken Hill community to be vigilant around not just scam text messages with dubious links that lead to a world of headaches, but also phone calls made from landline numbers.
Receiving a call from a QLD landline number starting with 07 on Monday, Inspector Aylett decided to see what they were up to by agreeing to be recorded and playing along with their call.
The scammer claimed to be calling from the PayPal Fraud Department and asked the inspector whether he’d recently made a transaction for a very specific amount of money.
“They asked, ‘did you make a transaction today for $1099?’ When you tell them that you haven’t made a purchase, they spring to action offering how they can help you to quickly reverse the transaction,” said Mr Aylett. “Playing along I said, thank goodness you called me!”
“They asked whether an iPhone or Android was being used and went on to explain how to install an app called Anydesk, then suggested that I create a unique PIN… obviously I didn’t actually do any of this, but as soon as I let him know I was onto the scam, he called me names you can’t put into print,” laughed the Inspector.
“Following their suggestions allows them to seize full access of your phone including digital cards in digital wallets, so we’re reminding everyone to stay vigilant of these kinds of scams.”
To report a local issue, call Broken Hill Police Station on 8087 0299 to speak with officers.
If you’d prefer to make an anonymous report, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. To report online, visit: nsw.crimestoppers.com.au/
Keep up to date with what’s going on around our region via the Barrier Police District Facebook page – EyeWatch at facebook.com/BarrierPD/
