SYDNEY: Scammers have ramped up their efforts to use the NBN brand to steal people’s personal or financial details, according to NBN Co’s contact centre, which received an average of 643 enquires a week on suspected scam calls between July and December 2019.
In the six months to December 2019, more than 180,000 people contacted NBN Co to report a scam, with approximately 31 percent of those calls coming from residents in NSW; 28 percent from Victoria; and 19 percent from Queensland.
Many customers received an automated call from “Nicole at nbn” with a warning that their services would be disconnected if they didn’t “press 1” to speak to a technician.
Other popular scams designed to defraud the community include requests to remotely access a computer or laptop to fix an issue with the connection, or help “set -up” or activate services.
NBN Co said it does not make unsolicited calls to remotely access computers or request money direct from consumers. Chief security officer, Darren Kane, pictured, said the company remains focused on scams prevention and helping people to identify and avoid scammers.
“While we do have a few people named Nicole working at NBN Co, they – or any of our employee’s – are not calling customers and threatening to disconnect services.
In fact, NBN will never call and ask to access your computer or advise that you’re going to be disconnected.”
