Residents within The Hume Police District should be on notice to remain vigilant about on-going phone scam where the caller pretends to be from the police or a government agencies such as ATO.
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Scammers are threatening those on the phone with fines and or possible arrest.
Residents of the Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands have been the target with callers claiming to be from the local police area.
Technology exists that allows calls to appear to have originated from legitimate phone numbers, a practice known as ID spoofing.
A caller will impersonate a police officer or other agency officials and state that the person receiving the call has an outstanding fine or warrant and demands a form of payment by way of cash, money transfer or gift cards.
The NSW Police Force will never call a member of the public and demand payment over the phone in order to avoid going to court or being arrested.
If you get an unexpected call from someone who states they're from the police, and starts asking for personal details or threatens you, hang up the phone.
If you're concerned, you can verify by contacting your local police or the Police Assistance Line directly on 131 444.
To find out more information about scams, or to find out other ways to protect yourself, visit www.scamwatch.gov.au.
If you have been the victim of a scam, you can report it to local police or to the ACCC online at the 'SCAMwatch report a scam' page.
You can also visit https://www.cyber.gov.au/acsc/individuals-and-families and https://www.idcare.org/ for ways to protect yourself from scammers.
