PHONE scams have risen 200 per cent since 2010 according to the latest figures from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

ACCC’s “Scams Activity Report 2011″ released today, showed telephone scams rose from 14,144 reports in 2010 to 42,977 reports in 2011. Scams by telephone represented 52 per cent of all scams reported, while scams delivered by text message represented 6.5 per cent.

Mr D’Ascenzo says National Consumer Fraud Week from March 19 to 25, serves as a timely reminder to the community to be aware of scams.

“If something seems suspicious, too good to be true, asks you for personal details or cannot be verified by contacting an official source, it is likely to be a scam,” he said.

“Scams are designed to trick you into providing either money or personal information that can be used to commit fraud or other illegal activities using your name and details.

“To catch people off guard, scammers use phone calls, letters, SMS messages, emails, bogus websites and even fake job advertisements. Last year we had about 25,000 reports of telephone and email scams using the ATO brand.”

Such “tricks” scammers have used include, using a legitimate-sounding message at the start of a call, such as the call is being recorded “for training purposes” and sending emails that appear to have come from the ATO, which when opened or downloaded infect your computer with malicious software.

Telstra Country Wide area general manager for Capital South East, Chris Taylor said: “Scammers are using phones for ‘high volume scams’ that are delivered to a large group of people with the aim of causing a small loss to each person.

“Telstra is warning customers to be alert to attempts to defraud them of money or to trick them into disclosing personal information.”

He warns of common phone scams including: callers impersonating representatives of well-known government departments and private companies; callers advising that the person’s computer is infected with a virus and requesting credit card details to fix the problem; calls seeking bank details in order to process a bank fee refund or tax refund; and calls conducting fake surveys or scam surveys.

“SMS is a great way to communicate or get things done quickly, without having to be face-to-face. Unfortunately, scammers also love the faceless nature of SMS, using it to hide their identity,” Mr Taylor said.

“Some common SMS tricks include texts promising unexpected prizes that require you to send money in order to claim them and mysterious text messages that can cost you a lot of money if your reply to them.”

Telstra’s tips to avoid SMS scams include: never call a telephone number contained in a spam SMS; look out for SMS and MMS numbers that start with 19 – these are charged at a premium rate and can be expensive; never reply to an SMS from a number or person you can’t identify (even to unsubscribe); and report SMS scams to the ACCC by calling 1300 795 995 or visiting the SCAMwatch website.

More information visit www.ato.gov.au/onlinesecurity or www.scamwatch.gov.au