Don’t let scam emails fool you into providing your personal details.
Telstra has issued a warning following reports of an email scam claiming to be from BigPond.
SCAMwatch has received many reports about scam emails claiming to be from well-known and respected organisations that are actually scams, and advises that you should be wary of all emails sent out of the blue—supposedly from companies you know and trust.
Telstra advises that they will never email you asking for personal details to be supplied by following a link, and that you should only ever provide this information in response to an expected request or one you have initiated.
SCAMwatch urges you to watch out for emails requesting passwords, account verification, credit card numbers or other personal details by asking you to ‘click on a link’. Whilst some emails will have tell-tale scamming signs such as misspelt words or poor grammar, others can look like the real thing, using corporate logos and links to genuine looking webpages.
Protect yourself
- Never respond to requests for personal information in an unexpected email, even if it is supposedly from an organisation you know or trust. If in doubt, contact the organisation using independently verified contact details.
- Do not open suspicious or unsolicited emails (spam)—delete them.
- If you want to access an online account, use a bookmarked link or type the address in yourself—NEVER follow links or open attachments in unsolicited emails as they may contain viruses or other malware.
- NEVER give personal or financial details to anyone you do not know and trust, or enter them into a website unless you are certain it is genuine. Check the website address carefully as scammers often set up fake websites with very similar addresses.
- If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.
Report
You can report a scam to the ACCC via the report a scam page on SCAMwatch.
You can also report any hoax emails that appear to be from Telstra or BigPond on the BigPond website.
To report spam, visit the Australian Communications and Media Authority website.
More information
For more information about how you can protect yourself, check out the Requests for your account information (‘phishing’ scams) page on SCAMwatch.
Telstra has also issued a media release with more details of the BigPond email hoax.
