Police are warning the public of another scam doing the rounds, this one targeting Telstra customers and their account payment advice.
An email titled “Your Telstra Internet e-Billing and payment”, featuring the Telstra logo and suggesting it originates from the email address “Telstra BigPond Billing [mailto:[email protected]] appears at the outset to be legitimate, however it is most definitely a scam.
The email goes on to tell the customer:
“During our regularly scheduled account maintenance and verification procedures, we have detected a slight error in your billing information. This might be due to either of the following reasons:
1. A recent change in your personal information (ie. Change of address).
2. Submitting invalid information during the initial sign up process.
3. An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within our processors.”
The clincher is the email asks you to verify your information by clicking on a link. The link appears on the email as https://telstra.com/myaccount/onlinebilling, however if you hover over the address (without clicking the link) you will notice the actual address is a spa in the United Kingdom.
“I would suggest this spa has no idea their account has been compromised and is being used by fraudsters to scam personal information from unknowing customers,” Detective Superintendent Brian Hay of the State Crime Operations Command’s Fraud and Corporate Crime Group said.
“I regularly hear people say that these scams appear to be getting more sophisticated and that they don’t stand a chance. While the criminals are getting more sophisticated, you do not have to become a victim.
“Regardless of what’s in this email – logos, account details and email addresses, the most important thing to remember is that they asked you to click on a link within an email. Legitimate companies will NEVER ask you to do this, especially when it comes to providing your personal information.”
Anyone with information which could assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers anonymously via 1800 333 000 or crimestoppers.com.au 24hrs a day. Crime Stoppers is a charitable community volunteer organisation working in partnership with the Queensland Police Service.
