Phone call from woman saying our Internet will be disconnected tomorrow.

[Pidgeoncoop]

Just received a random "Private Caller" call from some Indian woman claiming to be from Telstra and asking if I was the account holder. Did not provide any details but asked them what they wanted. They asked if I was aware that my internet was to be disconnected for up to 15 days. BS i thought. I said "15 days! No I am not." They said "well are you aware that when connected to the Internet you or family's computers download files ..." at that point I cut them off with "You are full of **bleep**!" and hung up.

[kimbo63]

Although this is an old forum I had a call only today from a guy saying he was from Telstra and my Internet was going to be disconnected for 2 weeks because hackers had got into my computer and downloaded software there. He asked me to go to my computer and log in. I explained I was not well (not a lie!) and was not able to go to the computer. He said he would ring again in a week. Just didn't add up and so I went looking and sure enough looks like it was a scam! 

[Lindy]

Hi Kimbo63

Thanks for alerting us to the call you received. In the Scamwatch link there is a field where you can report this call. I'm also providing you with some information, regarding how to avoid being caught out by the scammers.

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/news/scammers-pretending-to-be-from-telstra-technical-support-continue-...

https://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/General-Community-KB/Mobile-and-Home-Phone-scams/ta-p/251309

Kind Regards 

[RalphR]

I to have had thsi a number of times, the last time being yesterday. About 6 times from a man and twice from a woman. As soon as I ask them a pertinent question they hand up. Yesterday the lady was quite abusive.

[TommyR]

Hi RalphR, 

Im sorry to hear that you had to go through this experience.

This is certainly a known scam that is circulating at the moment. They have been very active and we are getting many reports of this. We are doing all we can to try and stop these Scam Artists.

For assistance with nuisance calls you can contact our Unwelcomed calls team directly on 1800805996
You can also report this to the Australian Communications & Media Authority here: ACMA http://www.acma.gov.au/
You can sign up for the Do not call register here https://www.donotcall.gov.au/
For guidance on how to handle these types of calls (Do & Don't s) I have included the following link: http://bit.ly/QHFSC4
You can also lodge this via Scamwatch to see if it is a known scam: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam
You can find some useful information here http://www.telstra.com.au/help/contact-us/complaints/verify/

As always, if you are a not sure if it is a genuine Telstra call, its always best to contact us on 132200 or chat http://tel.st/49kl yourself before you give them any personal information or accept any "dubious" sounding offers.

Regards – Tom

[pam-61]

hi i have had 4 calls to night starting at 6.30pm from a guy saying he was from telstra saying my 

internet isgoing to be disconnecded and did i no why,he said he was from tec support and as soon as i said i did not have a computer he hung up, the next 3 calls i received said the same thing 2nd was a guy the other 2 where girls and the last one was at 9.20pm the 6th January 2017  

[Iain_T]

Thanks Pam, We are aware of some scam callers and for more info please click the link below on how to handle these calls:

http://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/General-Community-KB/Mobile-and-Home-Phone-scams/ta-p/251309

You can also put your name on the Governments Do Not Call register which will stop telemarketing calls made in Australia to your home phone, you can register for this on https://www.donotcall.gov.au/ or over the phone on 1300 792 958, if you find you are receiving nuisance calls our team on 1800805996 can assist further with blocking international calls if this is an option.

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

Seriously? You're telling people they can solve this by going on the do not call register? Scammers, hackers and con artists are not going to take notice of a do not call list. Stupidest piece of advice posted on this problem I've seeb.

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

*seen.

[PatSalazar]

Just had a call from a guy saying he is from telstra and that my internet will be shutdown in 2 hours. I asked why and he said that we are being hacked ans he was going to show me on my conputer. I told him you dont sound like you are from telstra and hanged up.

[Steph]

Hi Pat

Good choice! Definitely a scam. 

We have info about how to identify a scam caller here: https://crowdsupport.telstra.com.au/t5/General-Community-KB/Mobile-and-Home-Phone-scams/ta-p/251309

[HannahMac]

Just had a call from someone who said my internet would be cut off for 90 days. A Lisa Lee. I asked for the Telstra number to call her back and she gave me 390159373.

[Anne2002]

I had this happen half an hour ago. It was "Naomi" and she said my internet was being disconnected in 24 hours due to unusual activity. Because we've had such a difficult start with Telstra (initially 100 drops outs in a day, solved now *knock on wood*), this wasn't completely out of the question, but I had difficulty understanding her and asked her to send it to me in an email. She hung up. 

[Steph]

Hi HannahMac & Anne2002

Thanks for taking the time to share the details of the calls you’ve been receiving claiming to be from Telstra.

These calls aren’t legitimate, they’re definitely from scammers pretending to be Telstra.

We’ve got great information available online here: http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2014/10/15/is-it-really-telstra-calling/ that can help you work out if the call you’ve received is a legitimate call from Telstra including what we will or won’t say when we call you.

However if you’re ever concerned about a call you've received, ask for an Interaction number from the person you’re speaking to ( it’ll start with the letters INT and have a string of numbers after it) and then hang up and call us on 13 22 00 (Which is our main number from your bill) and our consultants will be able to check that reference number and confirm the call is legitimate for you.

[mw4]

Last night I had a call from Indian accent woman claiming to be from Telstra
I had some difficulty understanding her but when she told me because of unauthorised use of my internet the past few days that Telstra would be cutting off the Internet for a month!
When I said I was having trouble understanding this she put on her ?Manager who wanted me to turn on computer & he would show me how to fix this problem
Although he gave me name & identity number I told him I wasnt able to access my computer at that time & he said will ring me back
I felt this was a scam & if I receive another like call will do what I should have done
Hang up quickly not waste my time

[gerardandjenny]

Look out everyone, they are at it again.  I was contacted tonight (19 May 17) by someone purporting to be from Telstra saying they were going to cut off my internet due to 'illegal activity'.  He didn't get far.  First, I do not do anything illegal and secondly I had been away for a few weeks and had not used my computer.  I told him that he was lying and he got angry.  He had an Indian accent.  I told him he was full of s**t and hung up.  

Beware everyone!!!

[TommyR]

Hi mw4,

Im sorry to hear that you had to go through this experience.
 

For assistance with nuisance calls you can contact our Unwelcomed calls team directly on 1800805996
You can also report this to the Australian Communications & Media Authority here: ACMA http://www.acma.gov.au/
You can sign up for the Do not call register here https://www.donotcall.gov.au/
For guidance on how to handle these types of calls (Do & Don't s) I have included the following link: http://bit.ly/QHFSC4
You can also lodge this via Scamwatch to see if it is a known scam: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam
You can find some useful information here http://www.telstra.com.au/help/contact-us/complaints/verify/

As always, if you are a not sure if it is a genuine Telstra call, its always best to contact us on 132200 or chat http://tel.st/49kl yourself before you give them any personal information or accept any "dubious" sounding offers.

Regards – 

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

Again with the useless advice to try the do not call register? We've already been through this. THEY ARE SCAMMERS! THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE DO NOT CALL REGISTER!!! REGISTERING YOUR NAME ON THE DO NOT CALL REGISTER WILL NOT STOP THESE PEOPLE FROM CALLING AT ALL!!!!!! STOP TELLING PEOPLE THAT THIS WILL HELP WHEN THEY GET CALLS FROM CON ARTISTS!!!!!!! UGH!!!!

[TommyR]

Hi Gruntbuggly_Snr, 

You are technically correct. The Do not call register does not stop all types of scam or nuisance calls. This is why it is only PART of my answer in my previous reply, as it does stop unwanted marketing calls from companies within Australia. 

Telstra works with law enforcement agencies to try and stop scammers but you stop one and a hundred more pop up. We are not the phone and internet police. It is almost impossible to stop scammers, especially ones located internationally (as the majority of them are). Unfortunately in a world where we rely on the internet for basic all everything we do, these type of scams are going to happen.

Regards - 

[seaford]

Yes today I had a very bad spoken chap telling me the same. I said "Thats wonderfull news thank you so much" and he hung up. lol

[CHUCK4740]

GET CAUGHT TOO LIKE A ROOKIE... VERY ANGRY & FRUSTRATED

WE HAD REAL PROBLEM WITH OUR LINE DROPPING SO MANY TIME

SO I GATHER THEY HAVE ACCESS TO A LIST OF CLIENT WITH DIFFILCULTIES

HER TEAMVIEWER ID IS 891 722 068

[Shellock]

Unfortunately, remote access scams such as this one are not new or uncommon. You can find out more about these types of scams, how to protect yourself, where to get help and how to report these calls on the following link:

https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/types-of-scams/buying-or-selling/remote-access-scams

- Shelly

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

That wouldn't be a real team number. These people aren't actually representatives of Telstra. They simply find your phone number via the white pages online then try and tell you you've breached some rule in order to trick you into either giving them your bank details or downloading malware to your computer which will then give them access to your online passwords and bank details as you type them.

[Choongal]

Ah  I have  been  getting  this  type of  call  for  months.    I have a  habit  of  saying   sorry  I  don't have  the  internet.  I   remember  a  guy  saying  to me  a  few  months  ago   that  it  said   I  did..  I  said   where..  he  said  on  Telstra  records.  So I  said  oh years   ago  I had  it   not anymore.    I have had  several other  calls  along  the  same  lines...

tonight  it  seems  the  first  guy  was  back.  he  sounded  like  an  old  friend...  and  I was thinking  what  scam is  this,...  sure  enough  it  was  the   we  are  cutting you off  for  two  weeks.  I think I  said  why?  and he  said  aha  I  caught  you in  a lie,  you  said  you  didin't have  the internet.   Quick  as a  flash  I  said  no  what I  said  was  that  I  didin't have   telstra  internet.  I s aid  I  spoke  slowly  in  clear  English.  A  telstra  rep  would have  understood.   

Slammed  the  phone in my  ear.....

What on  earth  are  they  trying  to  gain  from  this   sort of  lunacy?  anyone  got  any  ideas?

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

What gets me is that they keep trying the same phone numbers over and over. Why on Earth would we suddenly believe them on the 20th attempt to scam us when we didn't fall for it the first 19 or so times? I know it's a big windfall for them when someone does get suckered into parting with their cash or bank details, or has their computer compromised by them, but really, why waste their time on someone who they know isn't going to fall for it? Simply by knowing that you previously said you didn't have the Internet and now they've tried to say "Aha, gotch'ya" when they think you've finally admitted that you do have it shows that they're keeping tabs on who they've called. So not only are they con artists and scammers, but they're also incredibly stupid, which is probably why they don't have a proper job where they actually earn money.

[mmining]

Just had this one today. Certainly not convincing, didn't get far enough to guess what they hoped to achieve.

A lot of these target the older generation I guess. I just laughed and said "ok I'll get onto the business department about it and she hung up.

Difficult to report to the ACCC seeing I don't know what they're up to but if anyone from telstra is monitoring this forum, the phone call appeared to be from Australian mobile ph: 0407507229.

Pretty sure it's part of a pretty serious operation I've heard about involving counterfit, or illegally aquired sim cards. Be nice to see something done about the <removed inappropriate word> rather than a never ending forum about the same insulting scam...

[Dani39]

Thanks for the post. 

It is great that you remained vigilant with this scam call. You can report the number that called at http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

It's a bit hard to report a number when they've blocked their number from showing itself, which is what they've now started doing in our case.

[Dani39]

Certainly is when the number is blocked, but at times the numbers are visible. 

[marmalade1]

I have these calls constantly and even though I would love to string them along i usually either hang up or politely say there is no problem. Tonight was an exception. I politely said that everything was ok and hung up. the phone rang again showing it was a private call so I let it ring out. Then it rang again and stupidly I answered it. this time I got called a **bleep**ing bitch and a whore! I've never experienced such abuse before so from now on if it shows private I will not answer. If it is a genuine call I would hope they leave a message on our answering machine,

Unfortunately these calls aren't always private numbers I have received them from Victorian, NSW and SA numbers. It is annoying, frustrating and now after tonight's call, disturbing.

[Gruntbuggly_Snr]

We have a phone that announces who the caller is and if it says "random caller" or a number we don't know we let the answering machine take care of it now. So far whoever it is keeps hanging up and we suspect it's the scammers considering they've been trying to convince us that they're legit for the past couple of weeks now after a few month's break from them. We didn't believe them the first time and we sure as heck aren't going to believe them the 900th time.

[Choongal]

uhuh... exactly. i just got another one same guy.. I just said... something impolite and hung up.

[Bizzie]

Yesterday I had 2 phone calls on my home phone from people purporting to be from Telstra telling me that my internet system and all people in my area 5062 had been corrupted and that Telstra wanted me to go to the Management system while on the phone so they could fix it. The first time I said I would call Telstra myself and see if this was true and they hung up. Second time I told them they were a scam which they disputed but they then hung up. So still happening.

Biz

[Greg_Buch]

Thanks for taking the time to bring this to our attention - there's been a recent increase in hoax attempts like this claiming to be from Telstra to get account details or remote access to your devices. As a general rule we'd never make a cold call like this to request information or remote access - you can report this scam call via https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/index.phtml/tag/reportascam/.

[Perrywinkle]

A caller using the phone ID  04007648074 (which has one more digit than a mobile...) rang claiming out internet was to be disconnected.  I suspected a scam as her English was very stilted.  Sounded like the call was from a call center. Did not know my name either. 5:37pm Wed 4th Oct.

[Nix]

Last time I had a call of this nature I told the woman I was on on the Do Not call register. She said "but I am from Telstra". When I said I had a silent number she said "but I am from Telstra". Then I said "but I don't have a phone" there was silence and she hung up.

Another time someone from Microsoft Windows rang about computer faults and I simply asked if I could speak to someone about solar panels.

The woman said "oh ok, I'll put you through" but then just hung up.

[Dj3000001]

I had call like this yesterday ask me download something on my computer, ask me what computer am I use windows or Mac
I said to them neither I am use Commodore 64 best joke ever

Darren

[johnatyandoit]

Telstra should accept responsibility for these calls, most of which are initiated overseas using VOIP, but hop off the internet onto the Australian PSTN. That requires a PSTN account that it used by a local server. And who supplies them that PSTN account???

For Telstra, the name of the game is "call completion": as long as someone answers, Telstra gets paid. Telstra is allowing abuse of its network, for commercial reasons.

[holden22]

Also had call phone no 085231927420
Why doesn't Restraint shut them down?

[Rob-Dog]

---

@holden22wrote:
Also had call phone no 085231927420
Why doesn't Restraint shut them down?

---

Had the same call as everyone else and not the first time . The number displayed was  0492162979001 . March 2018 . Been going on for a long time... What is being done to stop it?

[KazzaB]

Just received call that Telstra will be disconnecting my internet tomorrow for the next 15 days because of an IP address violation and suspicious activity. When I asked for direct number to ring back, was put on hold for supervisor. I hung up.  She rang back a few minutes later "Why did you hang up on me?" and I told her again, I want direct number, she hung up on me. They've rang back twice in 10 minutes, leaving it to go to voice mail.  Assuming this is a scam....

[thomasdavis]

I think it was a good choice to just hang up on them. I personally never answer calls from private callers or unfamiliar numbers. If I have access to the internet, I sometimes look up the number on Google or some sites like http://whycall.me to see if people have reported the number as scam, so that I could just block the number without even talking to them.

[CmnSen]

Also had call to my landline (over NBN) from 0878124943 14:08 28/04. I didn't click on initial introduction of disconnection of BB, but mentioned who I worked for and he hung up. Background noise was similar to a domestic house with one person (kid?) and TV in background.

[Huey17]

Yeah, sounds like they are doing the rounds again. I had a similar call, you could tell she was reading her spiel and was really struggling with english. When I asked for her employee number, she rattled off a number but when asked which office she was calling from she just hung up.

[wilburr]

Received the same call today 17/5/2018 Indian accent, claiming my internet will be shut down for 14 days due to hackers. I Hung Up

[mazinoz]

I had one of these about a Telstra mail server virus. Amused when they told me to do Windows hot keys. I use only linux and android.

[mazinoz]

Actually, could the form for reporting the misuse of a service be changed so that you can upload say screenshots of your routers pages or of a hackers network connections to your network etc. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Your form does not allow you to provide evidence like this and sometimes it is the best you can get.

[DarkBrother]

Got the same call...Twice. Telstra Internet services (with an Indian accent so probably doing Telstra work every "other" day) was going to cut my internet in two hours time for 6 days. Sounded dodgy so I said thanks and hung up. May be taking advantage of Telstra's current mobile phone network troubles.  

[Angela_H]

Hey DarkBrother, 

It's always better to be safe than sorry.

You can find out more on these types of scams online here Mobile and home phone scams

Angela 

[Hamblo]

I have been getting these calls regularly ever since NBNCo sent over an interstate Indian technician to fix up a problem with the landline. I never had this issue before then, now I get at least one scam call every week. I don't know if there is any correlation between the technician and the scammers, he appeared dodgy when he was over, so I watched him like a hark.

I don't use this number for any calls and it has always been a silent, unlisted number, even well before I had the NBN connected.

My favourite response is to answer with: 'Hello, extension 27'. The woman then tells me that there is an issue with my internet, at which point I respond with 'Just a moment, I'll put you through to our technician' at which point the caller always hangs up immediately.

Works every time!