An Indian national, residing in Bendigo, Victoria was duped out of more than $3000 after a scammer claiming to be from the Department of Immigration threatened her with jail and deportation within 45 minutes of the call.
The woman, who asked not to be named, received a call from a scammer, who spoke in Hindi and English and claimed to be a representative of the government agency last Wednesday afternoon.
He threatened to send police to her house and "take [her] back to India forever", if she did not follow his orders.
Scared and afraid of the consequences, she followed the scammer’s instructions and bought iTunes vouchers worth $2300 and gave away the vouchers’ number to the scammer.
It did not end there. She was made to buy similar vouchers from EB games worth $950.
The husband-wife duo realised it was a scam only when the offenders called back again the next day.
"My wife cried for three days and wouldn't eat anything," her husband told Fairfax Media.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) spokesperson Delia Rickard told Fairfax Media that her organisation had received reports from visa holders and Australian citizens threatened with deportation by someone claiming they had not filled out immigration forms correctly.
Her advise to anyone who receives a threatening call seeking payment is to ignore the demands and hang up.
“Scammers may try to pressure you by repeatedly calling and harassing you – but if you give your money to a scammer you will never see it again,” Ms Rickard said.
