DO NOT ANSWER scam phone calls from unknown phone numbers.
And if you have to, just say “NO”
Whether answering your mobile phone or your land-line, for safety, only answer calls from known and trusted numbers, and never answer the phone with the word “Yes”?
Scammers are constantly changing their tactics. Besides the usual raft of fraud scam phone calls techniques, there are a couple of new ones that revolve around capturing you saying certain words or phrases.
ATO/Centrelink Voiceprint Scam
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) and Centrelink have been encouraging us to create a “voiceprint” to assist them in identifying us. They want you to say the phrase …
“In Australia, my voice identifies me”
if a scammer records you saying any of these words, they can reconstruct the above phrase and use it to access your ATO or Centrelink account.
What can you do about it? Hang up immediately, even if you feel like you're being impolite. In general, someone should start a conversation there should not be silence a long pause or a recorded message.
Just say “YES”
Scammers use this technique also but this time the end goal isn't to get you to reveal personal information. It's simply to get you to say yes.
It works like this: The phone rings. You pick up the phone and say hello. The person on the other line asks if you can hear them. You say yes. That's it.
Why does a scammer want to get you to say yes? They record you saying yes. Then, they can play back that recording to make it sound like you're agreeing to purchase goods or services. They then put the pressure on you to pay the amount you supposedly agreed to.
What can you do about it? Hang up immediately, even if you feel like you're being impolite. In general, someone should start a conversation before worrying if you can hear them or not.
How to filter out and avoid scam phone calls and text messages
See the following link for details of this and other ATO scams
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Is-it-a-scam-/
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/Identity-security/Scam-alerts/
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