Victoria Police’s Cyber Crime Squad is investigating more than 150 reports of remote access scams which has already cost victims over $4 million in under five months.
Cybercrime Squad Detective Sergeant John Cheyne said victims received an unexpected call from someone purporting to be an employee of a reputable company or organisation.
Detective Sergeant Cheyne said the callers had claimed the victim was charged for a purchase they didn’t make, that something was wrong with the victim’s computer or internet connection, or that malware had been installed on one of more of their devices, which the caller would suggest they could help remove.
“Various reports have stated scammers have been calling and stating they’re from well-known organisations such as Amazon, Apple, the Australian Government, Australian banks (Commonwealth, NAB etc.), Norton 360 and telecommunications agencies,” Detective Sergeant Cheyne said.
“The scammer will pretend to assist and will ask for remote access to the victim’s computer to ‘find out what the problem is’, ‘fix an issue’ or to login to the victim’s internet banking to check no funds have been stolen or to refund the fraudulent payment,” he said.
“They will tell the victim to download remote control software such as AnyDesk, TeamViewer or Zoho Assist.”
Detective Sergeant Cheyne said that once remote access was established on a device, scammers had almost unlimited access to personal information such as passwords and banking details or to install malware.
He warned anyone who received a cold call of this type to be wary, “your best defence is to hang up the phone”.
“If you think the call may have been legitimate, independently source the official contact details for that organisation to contact them directly yourself,” Detective Sergeant Cheyne said.
“I want to assure the community that Victoria Police is committed to investigating these matters and holding offenders to account.
“We encourage anyone who has been subject to a scam such as this to speak to police.”
He urged anyone with knowledge of the incidents and those responsible to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppers.com.au
