Police are warning the community to be aware of a recent telephone scam that has duped several victims into handing over money after speaking to people claiming to be from an “Fraud Investigation Section”, of the Australian Federal Police, People Choice, Service SA or another legitimate business.

Victims report receiving a phone call from a person purporting to be a Fraud Investigator from a major institution. Victims say the calls were very convincing with some scammers warning they could face charges if they did not comply with the requests.

Scammers then claimed that the victim’s bank account had been compromised and advised the victim to withdraw cash to avoid it being stolen by scammers. The caller advised victims a member of their Security Team or ‘courier’ would attend to collect the cash for safe keeping.

Unfortunately a number of people have fallen to this type of scam and handed over thousands of dollars in cash to the scammers. Government agencies including SAPOL will never ask members of the public to withdraw cash or any sort of bank transaction over the phone or to be made using iTunes or similar gift cards.

This picture is of one of the alleged ‘couriers’ and was snapped by a victim at Woodville North. However all scammers/couriers have been different and may be operating independently.

If you recognise the man or have any information that may assist the scam investigations please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report on line at www.crimestopperssa.com.au – you can remain anonymous.

Scammers can be very convincing and will often:

-Threaten you with immediate arrest, jail or deportation.

-Insist you stay on the phone until a payment is made.

-Use a fake caller ID of a phone number that appears legitimate.

For more tips and information please visit: 

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/