A WILLETTON pensioner is urging residents to be alert to NBN impersonators calling up and wanting people to pay for NBN services with gift cards.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said she was called this week by a man offering NBN for $720 for two years.
“He said his name was Kevin,” she said.
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READ NOW“I went along with it and he said there would be a green box outside and a black box inside.
“He then asked if I had a Coles and Woolies near me and I said I did.”
The man then told the pensioner she should pay using gift cards.
“I yelled down the phone, ‘You’ve got to be joking’ and hung up,” she said.
Scamwatch issued a warning about NBN impersonators September last year after 300 complaints were received with financial losses of about $28,000.
The most common were attempts to sign people up to fake NBN accounts using iTunes giftcards as payment, gaining access to people’s computers by claiming there was a problem with their network, or stealing personal information by saying a resident was entitled to a new router but needed to prove their identity.
People are urged to hang up on their calls or delete such emails immediately.
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said iTunes gift card scammers were increasingly getting their victims to pay that way so they could quickly on-sell them and pocket the money by asking the buyer for the serial number.
“If someone asked you to pay for anything using an iTunes gift card, it is a scam,” she said.
“There are never any circumstances where a legitimate business or government department will ask for payment this way.”
For more information on scams visit www.scamwatch.gov.au or contact Consumer, Building and Occupational Services on 1300 654 499.
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