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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Laidley, SE Qld
    Posts
    1,038

    Default OT How does this scam work

    My next door neighbour is Cheryl L.......... , she doesn't have an alarm system on her house.
    I've received on my mobile the following message from ostensibly an Australian mobile phone

    Cheryl L..........
    Low power alarm 10%!
    Loc Time: 01/01/2034 10:00:00
    Alarm Time: 27/03/2022 22:46:22
    Up to date location is not available now
    Battery 8%

    The sender is presumably hoping I will believe that by mistake they've sent this important message to me rather than Cheryl.

    There are no clickable links in the message so I'm not sure what the catch is.
    Maybe I get charged $20 a minute from Kazakstan if I'm a good neighbour and phone the sender to tell them they've sent the message to the wrong phone.

    What really puzzles me is how does the sender know that my mobile number lives next door to Cheryl L..........?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
    Age
    59
    Posts
    6,541

    Default

    Could charge you $20/ minute while you try to explain the error. Could also be a foot in the door manoeuvre, where once having established contact there are all these other things that you 'need' from them - your solar panels need tuning, or the bird bath needs sanitising or...

    Michael

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Revesby - Sydney Australia
    Age
    56
    Posts
    1,183

    Default

    Perhaps Cheryl is actually a robot, and her battery is running low?

    Her remote monitoring satellite can't find her location (GPS tied to battery),
    and thus can't send a recharge/cleanup crew to her location.

    But you are on the ground, and can help out. Just look for the oil trail

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Mackay North Qld
    Posts
    6,446

    Default

    I would be reporting the attempted scam to the Australian Govt

    Scamwatch https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/

    The fact that someone nasty has discovered a linkage between you and your neighbor is worrisome and might even indicate corruption in one of the telecom mobs.

    Are you and the neighbor are with the same telecom company? If so that bears mentioning in the same scamwatch report.

    I have a blocked list of around 20 numbers who ring up and won't leave a message. I won't respond to anyone who will not leave a message No ID -no reply.

    I am also very conscious of the dial prefix number as some numbers are clearly overseas. I am advised by my telecom that they know its possible for overseas parties to spoof (thats the term) Australian phone numbers. I thought I would be clever and ask to have any incoming calls OS blocked but they can't do it due to the NBN.

    61 is the prefix for Australia, but bear in mind calls can be made from OS that make them appear to come from inside Australia.

    The thing is to make sure a report is made.

    Cheers
    Grahame

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Geelong, Australia
    Age
    57
    Posts
    2,651

    Default

    There's a lot of data out there that can be correlated if someone wants to, and soooo many ways it can be done.
    Could be as simple as you have both of you have ended up with records in the same place that contain your address and mobile.
    Freight or online purchases are common ones that come to mind. A lot of smaller suppliers have less than ideal security, and someone could easily extract data without them even knowing.
    Although there are regulations governing how companies can use that info and their responsibilities around it - the reality is somewhat different.

    Apart from someone getting access to that info online - there are other less complicated ways it could happen.
    The courier contractor that delivered the parcel to you last week delivered one to Cheryl yesterday. One of his side deals is feeding data to somewhere dodgy. A photo of each label he delivers that has name, address, and contact number....done.
    Not saying it happens, but the data is there for the taking.

    As to what the angle is - who knows what they are thinking!!
    Could be as simple as the charged callback as suggested.
    Could just be gathering valid names and numbers to sell to someone else. A number that has a person at the other end who responds is going to be more valuable than one that doesn't.
    Numbers of people who are physically connected somehow is an opportunity for a scam that doesn't work with randoms.
    If its someone more local that has gathered the data - it could be a lead-in to determining if you are home at the moment - and subsequent break-in if you're not.

    My view is generally the best thing is give them nothing. No response.

    Steve

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Wodonga Vic
    Age
    38
    Posts
    633

    Default

    If you want to see some scammers getting hacked and shut down have a watch of this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLyrc_JZmF4

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Southern Flinders Ranges
    Posts
    1,536

    Default

    Do some reading on the IoT (internet of things), it will become fairly clear on how the dots get joined, particularly if you use default passwords for things that have an IP address.

    Looking at the message, it looks like telemetry reporting, are you sure she doesn’t have something that has telemetry reporting enabled via mobile?

    Took me forever to figure out why the ex’s mother kept getting ridiculously high phone bills. Turned out she had one of those duress alarm things forgotten about in a drawer in the kitchen that had flat batteries and was calling back to the mothership to report it via her mobile phone.

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