Durva Bhatt, an engineering student at Macquarie University, was out jogging in the morning last week when she said she received a call from someone masquerading as an Australian Federal Police (AFP) officer.
"The caller told me there are multiple frauds in my name and they are going to arrest me. I panicked as they were aware of my all details and even knew I was wearing track pants and having coffee after my morning jog," Ms Bhatt told SBS Hindi.
"I knew I was being scammed. But since the call was from a number listed under the AFP name on Google, I believed it could be true. Unfortunately, all my friends and families are overseas, so I couldn't consult anyone," she added.
Highlights
- Indian student Durva Bhatt said she has reported the scam to Kings Cross Police Station in Sydney
- AFP said scammers have managed to mimic their numbers
- The Australian government and AFP never seek payments or fines over the phone: AFP
Ms Bhatt, who hails from the Indian state of Gujarat, said scammers asked her to withdraw all her savings from an ATM and physically deposit the money in a nearby bank. Ms Bhatt told SBS Hindi that she deposited $3,740 in the said bank last week.
"They then asked me to sit on a bench near the bank for 30 minutes so that they could monitor me," Ms Bhatt said.
Ms Bhatt said she reported the matter to the bank and the Kings Cross Police Station in Sydney.
New South Wales Police said officers have commenced an investigation.
"Never send money or give credit card details, online account details or copies of personal documents to anyone you don't know or trust. Don't agree to transfer money or goods for someone else: money laundering is a criminal offence," it said in a statement to SBS Hindi.
Ms Bhatt told SBS Hindi that she had received the call from 0292864000.
AFP Detective Superintendent Jayne Crossling said calls appeared to have been made from a legitimate AFP number in some cases.
The Australian Federal Police say scammers have managed to mimic their numbers and calls appear to have been generated from overseas. Source: Google
"But we want to stress that it is not the AFP calling and asking you to withdraw money or make purchases or transfers," Detective Superintendent Crossling told SBS Hindi in a statement.
"The scammers have managed to mimic the number to disguise their identity, but police suspect the calls originate from overseas.
"The AFP and the Australian government will never seek payment for fines or other matters over the phone. We will not ask for money transfers, Bitcoins or online vouchers such as iTunes and GooglePlay," Ms Crossling added.
The AFP urged residents not to respond to the demands or follow the message prompts to call back.
"If you want to check if a call is legitimate, disconnect the call and find the agency's listed contact number on a website or by calling directory assistance," it said.
"Manually enter that number, never press redial. Then explain the nature of the call you received, and you will have confirmation that the AFP or government department was not behind the call," it added.
The AFP said the can help individuals and organisations if they require support about the loss of money or personal credentials through online scams.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's ScamWatch, which compiles data on scams, says scammers are also targeting people using email and social media with fake arrest warrants.
"The offenders then call their victims and demand payments ordering them to deposit money into a nominated bank account, transfer cryptocurrency, or purchase online vouchers," it said in a statement last week.
"Some scammers ask their victim to meet in public to hand over money or ask them to withdraw funds from their account and deposit into an AFP account."
