Phone Scams

Phone scammers posing as utility company staff are tricking people into giving them money via prepaid debit cards.

Reports indicate that so-called “grandparent” scams are increasingly common. In this report, we discuss how a typical grandparent scam plays out.

Jury duty phone scammers are now using the names of real police officers to make their claims more believable.

People continue to receive scam phone calls claiming to be from the technical department of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) such as Telstra.

Email forward warns that scammers are attempting to obtain CVV2/CVC2 security numbers by phoning credit card holders and posing as Security and Fraud Department staff from Visa or MasterCard.

Email claims that, after a final tax calculation, you are due a refund from UK tax agency HMRC. It urges you to click a link to claim your return.

UK based building society Nationwide is warning customers about fraudulent text messages that use the company’s name.

Scammers posing as law-enforcement officers are cold-calling people and tricking them into paying over the phone to resolve supposedly outstanding warrants. The scammers warn victims that, if they don’t pay the requested fee, police may come to their home and arrest them.

In recent years, reloadable debit card phone scams have become more and more common, especially in the United States. In this scam, criminals try to trick victims into purchasing or reloading a pre-paid debit card such as a Green Dot card and then calling them back and providing card details