Scam calls and SMS messages

Scam calls or messages have been increasing in today's society. Scammers are being more creative in their ways to try and obtain personal and sensitive information from you. These calls and SMSs are an attempt to, identity and extract personal information and/ or financially benefit from an individual. Scam calls and messages are made to sound legitimate to the end caller to entice them to provide personal sensitive information.

Some of the most common and frequent scams today are listed below. These scam types will continue to grow as society catches on to the most common scams today.

Common Scam types
  • Callers who are claiming they are from the ATO requesting a fine to be paid.
  • Callers requesting other fines to be paid over the phone.
  • Callers claiming they are from your bank and requesting you to provide sensitive information.
  • Callers claiming they are from the NBN and need access to your mobile or PC.
  • Callers claiming donations on behalf of a charity.
  • SMSs claiming you have won a prize and lottery amount.
  • SMSs claiming your delivery is ready
  • SMSs claiming you need to make a payment to collect funds
  • SMSs claiming to contact them to stop a subscription
  • And many more.

You can visit the following site for more scam types and details. https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/the-little-black-book-of-scams

You can potentially block these Scam callers

Most mobile phones now can block certain numbers from calling you. You can check with your phone manufacturer to obtain instructions on how to block unwanted callers. Each phone manufacturers process is different.

How to minimise risk from potential scams

  • Avoid clicking on links inside an SMS you are not familiar with
  • Avoid pressing options in auto attendants which direct you to stopping any subscriptions
  • Regularly updating your phone PINs
  • Do not provide personal information in links you are not familiar with
  • Do not provide financial information in links or over the phone with unfamiliar resources.
  • Block suspicious callers and numbers from your device.
  • Do not download any programs on your devices such as Team Viewer or Anydesk if instructed by an unfamiliar person.
  • Do not provide PINs or passwords with others.

What you can do if you have received a Scam call or SMS:

If you feel you or anyone else in your business has received a Scam call or SMS , we ask you to not provide any sensitive or personal information to these callers or put this information on any unfamiliar websites.

If you are receiving Scam calls or SMSs to a phone service provided to you by Business Telecom, then you can report this number to us. Simply take down the following details and share this with our team. Email us at billing@businesstelecom.com.au and our team will report this number to our upstream carriers. You can also visit https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ to report these calls or SMS.

Phone scam calls information required:
  • Simply provide us with the number that called you (Please note we can only take further action if the number is an Australian based number and not an international number).
  • Advise us the number they dialled to reach you. ( Please note we can only assist if your number is with Business Telecom)
  • Advise us of the date and time of the call.
  • Advise us which company they are representing.

Scam SMS information required:
  • Simply provide us with the number that sent you the SMS. (Please note we can only take further action if the number is an Australian based number and not an international number).
  • Advise us the number they sent the SMS to. ( Please note we can only assist if your number is with Business Telecom)
  • Advise us of the date and time of the SMS.
  • Advise us which company they are representing.