Young woman's $2,500 mistake on the phone: 'Please be careful'

A young woman has exposed the red flags she missed after falling victim to a scammer and losing more than $2,500 over the phone. 

Taylor Maree,who lives in Brisbane, lost the amount after a man called her from on an unknown number and claimed to be from Virgin Money on June 6. 

Virgin Money provides financial services including home loans,credit cards,and superannuation and is owned by the Bank of Queensland Group. 

Ms Maree,who shared her experience on TikTok,said the man claimed there had been fraudulent activity detected on her account.  

'He goes,"I'm not going to ask you for your personal information I just need to confirm with you if these transactions are yours",' she said. 

@taylor.maree_ Be careful everyone! #scam #scammeralert #fyp

♬ original sound - Taylor (Taylor’s Version)

Aussies have been warned not to answer phone calls from an unknown number,after several people shared their experiences of losing thousands of dollars (stock image)

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) deputy chair Catriona Lowe warned Aussies that scammers are using emails,phone calls,and web-based pop up messages to target people. 

'Never download software or apps if directed to by someone over the phone and never share banking information,passwords,or two-factor identification codes,' Ms  Lowe said.   

Australians lost more than $2.7billion to scams in 2023 with 601,000 reports made to the ACCC last year alone. 

Text messages were the most common method used by scammers to target victims,while scam calls caused the highest financial loss worth $116million. 

What do to if you have been scammed?

Anyone who has been the victim of a scam should contact their bank immediately and report the incident. 

Report a scam to Scamwatch and the Australian Signals Directorate. 

Contact financial counsellors to access support services. 

Support services are also provided by ID Care,a not-for-profit charity to support people experiencing identity and cyber security concerns. 

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