Victorians Being Scammed By SMS

The ACMA is warning that Victorians are being targetted by SMS scammers in lottery fraud

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is warning Victorians of an SMS spam scam claiming recipients have won third prize in a lottery.

The SMS messages include a Melbourne telephone number for recipients to contact to retrieve their ‘winnings.’ Callers to the number are advised that they have contacted a company by the name of ‘Grand Sands’ and are provided with a business address in the Melbourne CBD. Callers are then asked to provide their telephone number. Some complainants have indicated that they have then received multiple calls asking them to provide their banking details in order to pay a commission, so that they will receive their prize.

‘It might seem like you have hit the jackpot, but we remind consumers that this is a scam and under no circumstances should you respond to this message or provide your banking details,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA. ‘If you receive a message of this type you should ignore it and then report it to the ACMA.’

The ACMA has been working on this matter with the ACCC, and is pleased with the assistance received from carriers, who have been prompt in disconnecting the telephone numbers in the messages. One carrier reported that over 6,000 telephone calls had been made to one of the numbers from Victorians before it was shut down.