Scammers are out for your money once again, folks, this time with a voice message asking you to call a number back to avoid being arrested. Kings Cross Police have posted a clip of the cooked audio on Facebook to spread awareness.
[jwplayer KlaiocWU]
“The moment you receive this message I want you to get back to me,” it says in a clearly robotic voice. “If we don’t hear from you we have to issue an arrest warrant under your name and get you arrested. So get back to me as soon as possible.”
First thing’s first, do not call the goddamn number back. If anything is important enough to arrest you over, they’re probably gonna try and contact you more than once, but these clowns won’t call you back. Also, nobody says they’re going to “issue an arrest warrant under your name and get you arrested”. That’s like telling someone you’re giving them a movie ticket for the movies. No fucking shit.
You can hear the message for yourself below.
If you do call the number back, someone will tell you that you owe money for whatever reason and if you don’t pay, you’ll be arrested. The thing is, they’ll tell you to go to a goddamn bitcoin ATM to pay, which is, of course, a massive red flag. The scam has even targeted a couple of people I know, telling all of them they owe money to the ATO and if they don’t pay, they’ll be charged with tax evasion.
“No-one will contact you in this way to warn you about ‘lawsuits in your name’. The caller can’t ‘issue a warrant’ or ‘get you arrested’,” the police Facebook post says. “No legitimate business or agency will have you pay in Bitcoin, or iTunes cards, or anything similar. This is just another low trick to target the vulnerable.”
If you do get targeted by this or a similar scam, the police suggest you do the following.
• If you receive a threatening phone call (and demanding money), hang up immediately;
• Do not disclose personal details to the caller;
• Never provide your personal or banking details to a person who calls you;
• Never provide your financial PIN or account passwords to anyone;
• Do not make any payments to the caller, either via phone, internet, or cash;
• If you are suspicious about the credentials of a person on the phone, ask questions of them. If they avoid answering or refuse to provide information, hang up;
• Don’t let scammers pressure you – scammers use detailed scripts to convince you that they’re the real deal and create a high-pressure situation to make a decision on the spot;
• If you think you have provided your account details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately; and
• Contact police immediately to report the incident.
Stay safe out there, friends.
