Telstra launches customers information push to educate on scammers
Telstra has kicked off a community awareness campaign aimed at preventing customers from being misled by scammers after the telco reported a four-fold increase in the number of attempts by scammers to trick consumers into disclosing sensitive financial information.
The telco will send consumers an information flyer, ‘Is it really Telstra calling?’ to six million customers in the lead-up to Christmas, with it being direct mailed to customers with their bill. It will also be available online at Telstra.com and via Telstra’s social media channels.
The flyer provides examples of what telemarketers and scammers who impersonate Telstra staff say to customers on the phone, with the flyer clearly identifying what authorised staff will say to customers when they call.
Telstra’s director of cross-company complaints Steve Banningan said: “We know our customers receive phone calls from people impersonating Telstra staff, who try to switch them to another telephone company, or try to gain access to their personal information. The conduct of these people makes it difficult for customers to tell the difference between a call made by an authentic Telstra representative, and a call made by someone impersonating a Telstra representative.
“To help customers avoid purchasing an offer that is too good to be true, or falling victim to a telephone scammer, the information flyer provides advice so customers will know if it really is Telstra calling them.”
In August, Telstra reported that its customer service team was receiving about 500 scam-related comments per month.
The Telstra flyer
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The hypocrisy from a company that uses DOB as an identifier. A couple of
Months ago they were repeatedly calling me with an automated allegedly important message but wanted me to enter my DOB to retrieve it. A classic phishing technique. In fact I don’t know it really was them calling because I’m hardly going to give info to an inbound caller, am I, so I never did find out why’d it was about.
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I can tell Suvinder’s voice from Sudeep’s easily after having spent so long on the helpdesk line with them.
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This is a helpful initiative from companies commonly used by scammers to mislead people. With constant efforts to spread awareness, these scammers won’t stand a chance. And along with that, I strongly suggest reporting phone scams to consumer complaint websites such as Callercenter.com and to the FTC to shut the scam down.
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@JG but have you spoken with Priya?
Lizzie – are you a Telstra PR – sounds like some key messaging in there?
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Actually I have Jenna
Did you hear she will be a bridesmaid at Prakash and Anjali’s wedding in a few week’s time? There’s a rumour Brett Lee will be making a surprise appearance too!
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