Australians are being warned to hang up on scammers impersonating the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and other Government Agencies.
Issuing the warning, the federal Authority ACMA said the scammers were making calls, claiming to be from Government Agencies and threatening to disconnect people’s phone services.
It said they were targeting people who spoke Mandarin by pretending to represent a Government Agency.
“Some calls give an English language option,” ACMA said.
“The caller will claim there has been illegal activity involving the recipient’s phone number and threaten to disconnect the service,” it said.
“These calls may look as if they are coming from an actual ACMA phone number. This is a trick used by scammers to hide their number and convince you the call is genuine.”
The Authority said callers might also mention genuine ACMA phone numbers and website addresses to appear legitimate.
It urged anyone who received one of these calls to hang up immediately.
“Scammers are trying to trick you into providing your personal information,” ACMA said.
“The ACMA will never call and threaten to disconnect your phone number.
“If you have any doubt whether a call you’ve received from the ACMA is legitimate, hang up and contact our Customer Service Centre on 1300 850 115 or at [email protected],” it said.
