Reports of scams are spiking as criminals attempt to fleece victims of the Optus data breach, with the telco’s lack of transparency making customers “confused and anxious”, ACCC chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb says.
Speakig to the House of Representatives’ economics committee on Tuesday, Cass-Gottlieb says Optus is not providing its customers with clear information about the breach.
“The message that we are getting from these reports is firstly, that many of the consumers are confused about the information they’re receiving, or not receiving, from Optus.”
Asked by committee chairman, Labor MP Daniel Mulino, whether there has been a “material spike” in scam complaints to the ACCC, Cass-Gottlieb said there has been.
“Some have reported being contacted by parties who say they’re Optus or parties who say they are Experian, the credit reporting agency that is being retained to provide some assistance, and in some cases that say they’re MyGov responding.
“Because the data does include personal information, there’s a capacity for a scammer to personalise a contact and to also misrepresent who they’re representing.”
Cass-Gottlieb says there has been a small number of losses to remote access scams, where the scammer purported to be Optus to gain access to funds.
