Just two days after Optus suffered the biggest network outage in Australian history, opportunistic scammers are already taking advantage of the situation.
As reported by Scamwatch, the ACCC's anti-scam body, some Australians have begun receiving text messages purporting to be from Optus. The message reads, "Hi there, we apologise for yesterday's network outage. We are offering compensation for all customers impacted."
Included in the message is a link to a website which, at first glance, might seem legitimate, but is in fact a phishing site.
Image: @Scamwatch_gov / X (Formerly Twitter)
Another version of the message reads, "Affected by yesterday's service outage? All of our customers are entitled to our outage compensation rebate."
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has already confirmed that the telco will not be offering refunds to affected customers, so any messages claiming to offer some form of compensation are not to be trusted.
Scamwatch urges any Australian who receives one of these messages not to click the link, ignore the message and delete it. As always, suspected scams should be reported directly to Scamwatch.
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