The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says almost 6,500 Australians have reported phone calls from scammers trying to convince them to download software that gives access to home computers and bank accounts.
Deputy Chair of the ACCC, Delia Rickard said these were commonly called remote access scams.
“Scammers pretend to be from well-known organisations such as Telstra, eBay, NBN Co, Amazon, banks, Government organisations, police and computer and IT support organisations,” Ms Rickard said.
“They create a sense of urgency to make you give them access to your computer via remote access software,” she said.
“Remote access scams are one of the largest-growing scam types in Australia and they can be very convincing.”
Ms Rickard said people aged 55 and older lost more than $4.4 million, accounting for almost half of total losses.
She said young people reported losing on average $20,000 and eight Indigenous Australians, some in remote communities, lost a total of $38,000.
“Scams of this nature will often be an unexpected phone call saying you’ve been billed for a purchase you didn’t make, your device has been compromised, or your account has been hacked,” Ms Rickard said.
“Sometimes they start with an SMS, email or pop-up on a screen from a scammer seeking urgent contact to fix a problem.”
She said the scammer would pretend to assist the person.
“They will tell you to download remote control software such as AnyDesk or TeamViewer,” Ms Rickard said.
“Once the scammer has control of your computer or device, they will ask you to log into applications such as emails, internet banking or PayPal accounts,” she said.
“This will allow the scammer to access your banking and personal information to impersonate you or steal your money.”
The ACCC said its advice to people receiving unexpected contact from someone claiming to be from a telecommunications company, a technical support service provider or online marketplace was to hang up.
