Dear ,

As a part of Westpac's ongoing commitment to keeping our customers safe online, we'd like to make you aware of a recent phone scam targeting Australians.

The caller pretends to be a staff member from a large telecommunication, utility or computer company. They often ask for your help, or ask if you may be experiencing some technical difficulty with your PC, and offer to assist you. At times they can become quite aggressive if you do not comply with their request.

We strongly recommend you simply hang up if you receive this type of call. If you think the call was legitimate, ring the company back on a trusted number found in the yellow pages or from a Google search.

How this type of scam works:

1. The caller may ask you install a piece of software onto your PC. The technical name is 'remote access software' and this software allows information, or even control, of your computer to be shared remotely to another user. Once you install this software, if you sign into your online banking, the other user may attempt to control your online banking too.
    
2. There is always money involved. You may asked to sign into your online banking to confirm account balances, requesting you return deposited funds, purchasing gift cards or even to pay a fee for a service provided.
    
3. Before withdrawing any money following a request by a third party who claims money has been deposited into your account, check all of your account transactions to ensure funds have not in fact originated from your own account. In some cases, customers have had funds transferred from one of their own accounts to another account by the third party who has claimed it is a deposit which needs to be returned.

Share information about these types of scams with your friends and family, especially those who may be more vulnerable to this type of crime. It's OK to ask for a second opinion from a trusted friend or family member if someone contacts you unexpectedly and you are unsure what to do, especially if the caller asks you to keep this a secret.

For more information about phone scams, as well as a real life scenario, visit westpac.com.au/scams or register for the Australian Government Scamwatch alert service by going to scamwatch.gov.au

Thank you for using Westpac Online Banking.


Yours sincerely,

Westpac Protect