Mid North Coast Local Area Command said a Nambucca Heads man was contacted on his home phone by a person purporting to be from Telstra.

The person told the resident his computer had been hacked and guided the man through a number of steps on his computer. 

The deception was elaborate and involved the male being transferred to the ‘Investigation Team’ where he was asked to assist, said crime prevention officer Senior Constable Steve Cherry.

“The man was convinced by the scammer that $6000 had been transferred to his credit card and asked him to attend his local supermarket and purchase $6000 worth of iTunes gift cards on his credit card,” Snr Cons Cherry explained.

“The scammers even informed him to tell the supermarket staff they were for his daughter if they asked.”

When the man returned home he was contacted again and asked to open up the spyware pop up box on his computer and enter the numbers of the gift cards.

“The scam successfully netted $6000 from the victim as there was no transfer of the funds to his credit card as he believed,” Snr Cons Cherry said.

“This is not an isolated incident.”

Police warn residents to not give remote access to their computer to any unsolicited caller or give them personal or bank details.

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