Patience is the way to avoid scams

The community needs to be more aware and patient to avoid becoming the victim of scam emails, according to Telstra’s South West region manager Boyd Brown.

There has been a surge in hoax emails claiming to be from utility companies, asking for personal information to update details.

Mr Brown said hoax emails were becoming increasingly dangerous as they looked more realistic.

“The problem is when they’re clever and if we’re too busy, we may not look closely enough at the emails being sent,” he said.

“We can all do a little more to stamp out hoax emails.”

Mr Brown said it was unlikely hoax emails would ever be stopped completely, but raising community awareness would go a long way to reducing the risk of becoming a victim.

“It’s not a losing battle,” he said.

Things to look out for in a potentially hoax message include a return email address not matching the service or utility provider and the email referring to the bill payer as “user”, rather than by name.

“If in doubt, visit your service provider’s website or call them directly to update details,” Mr Brown said.

“Never click on the embedded links in the email.

“Hoaxes often evoke a sense of urgency to catch customers offguard.”