Christine George has had enough of scammers. The chief inspector of Manning Great Lakes Police District recently received a phone call at home from someone claiming to be from Telstra.
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It didn't take her long to uncover the illegitimacy of the call.
"He was very persistent. He told me my internet was faulty and he needed to fix it.
"I had a bit of time on my hands, unfortunately for him, so I might have led him on a bit.
"It didn't matter what I said to him, he was still trying to fix my computer even though I said it was owned by the NSW Police," chief inspector George said.
Christine George replays a scam phone call she received.
When pressured to share his phone number, the scammer hung up.
The call was disguised as a number from Cronulla, Sydney.
"When I tried to ring the number back, it was disconnected.
"They had spoofed the phone lines so it looks like it's coming from an Australian number but most likely these calls are coming from overseas," chief inspector George said.
Visibly angered by the current climate of scams, chief inspector George said scammers take advantage of the elderly and vulnerable.
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"These elderly people have saved their whole lives to have that nest egg and these people come and take it away in a day," chief inspector George said.
"Everyone works for a living so they can have a nice retirement."
With the rapid evolution of technology, identification of scams has become harder.
"With the new technology these days, everything is moving forward so quickly.
These elderly people have saved their whole lives to have that nest egg and these people come and take it away in a day.
- Christine George, Manning Great Lakes Police District cheif inspector
"Even I am not that tech savvy and people tell me stuff over the phone and only because of the position I'm in I don't believe anything I say.
"I have that benefit of knowing what's going on in the community because I see the crime reports.
"People who don't have that information, they don't know any better and it's really sad to see," chief inspector George said.
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