A PHONE call that lasted less than 10 minutes has cost an Albury man almost $10,000.
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Police said city residents had fallen victim to a recent spate of phone scams from those pretending to be from telecommunications, insurance and airline companies.
Albury police Sen-Constable Emma-Jane Musgrave said while most people realised the calls were illegal, there were those who gave personal information over the phone, including bank account details, name and date of birth.
A pensioner, 89, was scammed after trusting a caller claiming to be a Telstra employee.
“Unfortunately he did give his details and has lost just under $10,000,” Sen-Constable Musgrave said.
“It is a concern because the callers are quite skilled in obtaining details.”
Sen-Constable Musgrave said most of the scammers spoke with an Indian accent.
Table Top’s Dianne Andrews received a call last week from someone telling her she would have $999 deducted from her next flight with Qantas.
She said the pre-recorded message seemed believable at first as her husband had flown from Sydney to Albury on the airline just days prior to the call.
“I can see why people who don’t know about these things get conned into it,” Mrs Andrews said.
She hung up as soon as she had doubts about the authenticity of the call.
“I thought $999 was a weird number,” she said.
Sen-Constable Musgrave said another Albury resident received a suspicious call from an insurance company on Monday night.
The scammer said there had been a car crash and the other party was attempting to claim $10,000 from their insurance.
The victim had been in a minor crash seven months ago and thought the call was for that but asked why the other person was making a claim when they were at fault.
Sen-Constable Musgra- ve said the scammer then told the victim they could claim $20,000.
The scammer hung up when asked for their name and number.
Sen-Constable Musgra- ve urged people to be vigilant on the phone.
“Ask for a job reference number, their name and then hang up and call the company back,” she said.
If you get a call, ring SCAMwatch on 1300 795 995, and if bank details have been provided call police on (02) 6023 9299.
