A Gold Coast woman has issued a warning to drivers after $4,000 was charged to her credit card by text message scammers posing as toll road operator Linkt.
Key points:
- A Gold Coast woman is scammed out of $4,000 after using her credit card to pay a toll road account
- Transurban is aware of the SMS phishing scam targeting drivers
- The ACCC says it has received 750 reports of scams with victims losing $29,000
Poleta Lillico received a text message advising her of a failed toll payment and requesting she settle the outstanding amount.
She thought it was genuine, so paid $20 into her toll road account through the Linkt app.
Just days later a $4,000 charge appeared on her credit card.
“I was in, as you can imagine, massive shock,” Ms Lillico said.
“I wasn’t even thinking straight. I was in such shock.”
Hundreds of victims
Ms Lillico said she was unsure how the text message scammers got her details.
“I may have clicked on the link but I didn’t pay for anything through the link, I went to my Linkt app on my phone,” she said.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC ) said it had received about 750 reports of this type of scam since January.
An ACCC spokesperson said recipients received a text message with a link that directed them to pay a bill or provide details, and victims had already lost about $29,000.
“For victims that have clicked on the link and provided all details they would then find…
