TELSTRA is launching its largest marketing campaign dedicated to raising community awareness about telemarketers who attempt to mislead customers, and scammers who attempt to obtain customers’ personal information via the telephone.

An information flyer entitled, ‘Is it really Telstra calling?’, will be sent to six million customers between now and Christmas.

The flyer provides examples of what telemarketers and scammers who impersonate Telstra staff say to customers on the telephone. Most importantly, the flyer also clearly sets out to customers what authorized Telstra staff will say to them when they contact them on the telephone.

ACT Telstra Country Wide Area General Manager, Larissa Redford, said Telstra is increasing its efforts to raise awareness about the unethical conduct of rogue telemarketers and telephone scammers.

“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,” she said.

“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.”

Customers can find out more information or report rogue telemarketers and telephone scammers by calling Telstra on 1800 260 270 or by visiting telstra.com/verify.

Larissa Redford’s tips to avoid phone scams:

• If you’re not sure that the person on the other end of the phone is legitimate, hang up and call the organisation by using their official contact details.
• Be wary of sharing personal, credit card or banking details over the phone.
• Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer.
• Make sure your computer is protected with regularly updated anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
• If your alarm bells are ringing or you think something’s not quite right, just hang up.