A BUNBURY pensioner has lost his life savings after being scammed by an overseas phone company claiming to be Centrelink.
Bunbury resident Fredrick, who does not want his last name used, has lost more than $15,000 over a period of two months after he was duped into transferring the cash to a company believed to be in Thailand.
"That's all I had left was $15,000 and I am virtually just about broke, I rely on my pension from week to week to keep me going," he said.
Persistent calls from a man claiming to be Sean Lee from Centrelink in Melbourne led to Fred sending six payments, with the total amount lost now standing at $15,586.32.
Fred said the scammer was very convincing and told him the government had confiscated the money, so he would need to send more in order to get it back.
He told me "Centrelink like to look after our customers, you have been an aged pensioner with us for years and we want to look after you".
"It just kept snowballing from one to the other," Fred said.
"I'd paid $4,000 and they said when this is cleared we will pay you $6,000 and that was $1500 more than I had paid out"
He described the scammer as very aggressive over the phone which made him feel pressured into sending money.
The man at the centre of the scam is believed to be Indian and from a company SureTelecom, which Consumer Protection believes was based in Thailand.
Acting Director of Retail and Services for Consumer Protection Lanie Chopping says it’s 100 per cent a scam.
“One of our Consumer Fraud Liaison Officers has confirmed that the man making these phone calls to Fred does not work for Centrelink and that the phone number used is being re-routed overseas despite starting with 03 to make it appear to be Melbourne-based," she said.
“Centrelink does not recover monies owed to telecommunications companies. Centrelink does not accept payments by wire transfer for example Western Union or MoneyGram.
Fred urged others to use caution when being asked to send money overseas and he said it was a big mistake withdrawing cash and sending it through Western Union.
"Don't be so silly, especially sending money overseas, don't do it, it's not worth it," he said.
Fred's neighbour Tammi Dods wanted to help him out so she has set up a page Help Fred Out to raise funds.
Scam warnings and prevention tips are available at www.scamnet.wa.gov.au.
Enquiries can be made by contacting WA ScamNet by email wascamnet@commerce.wa.gov.au or by calling 1300 30 40 54.
Centrelink have a warning about this type of phone scam on their website.
Currently it’s National Consumer Fraud Week 2015 – an initiative of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce, which Consumer Protection is a member of.
The theme this year is ‘Get smarter with your data’ and a useful video can be viewed on the ACCC’s SCAMwatch website.
