Fraud runs riot as scammers steal $63 million

Unsolicited phone calls that convinced unwitting consumers to divulge personal details or hard-earned dollars grew seven-fold to more than 14,000 reports in 2010, compared with just 2000 the year previously.

He says the availability of cheap international phone calls through the use of voice over internet protocol was a factor in the disturbing growth in phone scams in 2010, with one of the most common being a person claiming there is a problem with the call recipient's computer.

The past 12 months

"It's been interesting to track this scam over the past 12 months. It's nearly been like following these unscrupulous operators as they open up a different regional telephone book around Australia each week," Mr Kell says.

"Never send money or give credit card details to anyone you don't know or trust," Mr Kell says. "And it's vital not to click on any links in a spam email and don't call a telephone number that you see in a spam email or SMS."

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