The ACMA has issued a warning about employment-related SMS scams doing the rounds.
“Have you received a job offer text out of the blue? Be wary – it’s probably a scam,” the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) said in an alert Friday morning.
The ACMA is warning the public about employment-related scams circulating via SMS and WhatsApp. These scams, they said, are designed to trick you into handing over money or personal information while applying for a purported new job.
The scams often impersonate well-known businesses such as Target and JB Hi-Fi. But, they also may not even mention a business at all.
“What they have in common is offers to work from home using your mobile phone with the promise of high earnings,” the ACMA said.
If it looks too good to be true, it’s probably a scam. JB Hi-Fi and Target do not send unsolicited messages asking for personal details. They’ll send you a receipt or an alert to let you know an order is in, but that’s about it.
The advice from the ACMA is pretty straight forward on this one, folks. If you receive one of these messages don’t open any links, don’t respond to the sender or provide any personal or financial details, report the message, and lastly, delete it.
“If you are unsure a message is legitimate, contact the sender using contact details you’ve identified yourself, such as through an official website or app,” the ACMA added.
Earlier this week, Telstra announced it had successfully outsmarted 185 million scam text messages, stopping them from reaching the phones of its customers. But, that tech is only available for Telstra customers. The rest of us have to play whack-a-mole ourselves.
You can report a scam message to the ACCC’s Scamwatch here. You can also reach out to JB Hi-Fi: socialmediasupport@jbhifi.com.au.