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Telstra giving free phones to elderly and remote

With the 3G network set to shut down completely on August 31, Telstra announced that it will be giving 12,000 mobile phones away for free in a bid to help the most vulnerable customers switch to 4G. Starting from Tuesday, the telecommunications company will be issuing complimentary phones to customers who are elderly, live rurally or are facing difficult situations. These include those facing financial issues, recovering from natural disasters, or those who have a life-threatening medical condition and therefore rely on a working phone. Telstra have also identified those who live regionally or are over 80 years old and may require extra transition support, as they may have difficulty accessing a physical store to make the switch. Those who are flagged as eligible will be contacted by the telco company, and they are encouraging customers who receive the message to follow the instructions given to make the switch. Major Brendan Nottle from The Salvation Army has praised this initiative for helping the "most vulnerable members of our community." “Connection is one of the most important things to maintain in our society, whether it is with friends and family or with housing and support services,” he said. “Ensuring that every Australian, from any background or level of income, can take part in our modern digital society is crucial. “A phone can be a gateway to social inclusion, community connection and support, and with the upcoming closure of 3G networks in Australia it is important for us to reach out and ensure that this can continue for everyone.” Customers who are yet to upgrade are also told to make the switch sooner than later. Other devices that will be affected by the shutdown include certain smart watches, tablets, medical alarms, EFTPOS terminals and security monitors. Images: Shutterstock

Money & Banking

Telstra announces thousands of job losses

Telstra is set to axe 2,800 jobs, or 9 percent of their total workforce, by the end of 2024 in a bid to save a whopping $350 million. The telco giant announced that the job cuts would "begin immediately" as a result of the impending business "reset" strategy. Chief executive officer Vicki Brady announced the cuts on Tuesday, and said the job cuts were "difficult" but "necessary" as parts of Telstra were not performing to the required levels. <div> <div>"We need to be a more efficient and sustainable business to ensure we can keep investing at the levels required to meet the ever-increasing demand for our connectivity and services for our customers right across the country," she said.</div> </div> Ms Brady also assured Telstra customers that the job losses would not affect customer service teams. “We have invested significantly in our customer service over recent years. That includes on-shoring our call centres for consumer and small business customers, it includes buying back our stores to deliver consistently good experience,” she said. “None of these changes impact those commitments." “As we work through the further changes still to come that I expect to be able to share with our employees in mid-July, customer service and experience will continue to be a key priority in that.” Despite Ms Brady's claims, Communication Workers Union (CWU) National Assistant Secretary, James Perkins, who represents Telstra workers said there was no way the substantial job cuts would not affect services. “While the detail of where exactly these jobs are being cut from is still unclear, one thing is certain – it will have a devastating impact on services,” Mr Perkins said. “You can’t slash thousands of jobs without seriously impacting the delivery of services across the country. Telstra has to answer to this.” The job cuts come as Telstra continues to scale up AI adoption, after the company announced in February it was expanding two in-house developed generative AI solutions following “promising pilots with frontline team members, enabling faster and more successful interactions with customers”. Image credits: Shutterstock

Money & Banking

How Guy Sebastian was conned by a Telstra worker

Guy Sebastian was allegedly duped into performing at a young girl's birthday party, when he thought the event was for a charity. The singer was one of many people who were scammed by former Telstra salesman Gerard Cecil Vamadevan, 56, who has been sentenced to a maximum two years jail after pleading guilty to making hundreds of harassing phone calls to 19 separate victims. On Monday, the NSW District Court heard how Vamadevan would tell victims he was either a “talent scout” or a “TV agent for Channel 7” to gain their phone numbers before making “sexually explicit” and “vulgar” anonymous phone calls to them. In addition to his 19 seperate victims, Guy Sebastian was also conned by Vamadevan, who he met over a decade ago, as his claims came to light following the conclusion of the case in court. At the beginning of their relationship, Sebastian was tricked into performing at Vamadevan's daughter's birthday party, although he told the singer it was a charity event for Telstra. The court heard how Vamadevan would use social media pictures with Sebastian, other celebrities and business leaders he had met through work to convince his victims of his “connections” to the entertainment industry. Sebastian’s manager said the pair knew each other about a decade ago and said the singer was used “for the convicted’s own personal benefit”. In a statement to news.com.au, a spokeswoman for Telstra said they were “very concerned” about allegations the former employee had “misrepresented his relationship” with the company, as Vamadevan long claimed he worked for the Telstra "charity arm". Vamadevan was sentenced to two years imprisonment, although will be eligible for release June 30th 2025 on good behaviour. Image credits: Facebook

Legal

More than 150,000 Telstra customers entitled to refund

More than 150,000 Telstra mobile broadband customers may be eligible for a refund as the telco admitted that it failed to send them data usage warnings. The issue, which was addressed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), said that warning messages were sent by SMS to accounts that were not connected to a mobile phone number to receive them. This resulted in customers going over their monthly data limit and paying extra usage charges as they had no idea they were over their limit. The problem shockingly occurred for almost six years, between September 2013 and May this year. Telstra self-reported to ACMA that it failed to send warnings over email so that all customers could see them. "Consumers have a right to make informed decisions about their broadband use, and by failing to send these notifications in the correct format people have had to pay excess usage charges without sufficient warning," said ACMA chair Nerida O'Loughlin to <a rel="noopener" href="https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/150000-telstra-customers-could-get-a-refund-001455957.html" target="_blank">Yahoo!</a>. "The [Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code] requires suppliers to send notifications within 48 hours of customers reaching specified data usage quotas on post-paid internet plans." Telstra has automatically refunded customers who complained about excess charges or were hit with excess fees of $5 or less. The company has also reached out to other customers who may claim a refund via an online form. "We encourage current or former Telstra mobile broadband customers to contact Telstra for a refund if they believe they incurred excess usage charges as a result of not receiving a usage notification," said O'Loughlin.

News

Why Telstra's high-tech phones are meeting resistance from councils

Australia is witnessing the first major redesign of the payphone booth since 1983. But Telstra’s new vision is meeting resistance from some councils, and the matter is in the courts. In an effort to make payphones relevant to the needs of modern Australians, Telstra’s revamped payphones feature mobile charging, Wi-Fi access through <a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/telstra-air">Telstra Air</a> (free or via a Telstra broadband plan, depending on the area), and large digital advertising displays. Sydney’s Lord Mayor Clover Moore <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/20/telstra-and-city-councils-head-to-court-over-new-3m-tall-phone-booths">described</a> the new booths as “a craven attempt” to profit from “already crowded CBD footpaths”, and a “Trojan horse for advertising”.<a href="http://theconversation.com/will-australias-digital-divide-fast-for-the-city-slow-in-the-country-ever-be-bridged-60635"></a> Under existing Universal Service Obligation (USO) agreements, Telstra has to provide payphones as part of its standard telephone service. The USO is a consumer protection measure that ensures everyone has access to landline telephones and payphones, regardless of where they live or work. Telstra is the sole provider of USO services in Australia. The USO is funded through an industry levy administered by the <a href="https://acma.gov.au/Industry/Telco/Carriers-and-service-providers/Universal-service-obligation/payphones-universal-service-obligation-acma">Australian Communications and Media Authority</a>. This means registered carriers with revenues over A$25 million per year contribute to the levy, including Telstra. The face of the new Aussie payphone In a <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/modernising-payphones/">blog post</a> last March, a Telstra employee said the new “<a href="https://www.telstra.com.au/consumer-advice/payphones/smart-payphone">smart payphones</a>” provided emergency alerts, multilingual services, and content services including public transport information, city maps, weather, tourist advice, and information on cultural attractions. The booths are 2.64m tall, 1.09m wide, and are fitted with 75-inch LCD screens on one side. In 2016, 40 payphones were approved by City of Melbourne planners and installed over the following year, marking the start of Telstra’s plans for a nationwide rollout. Telstra’s submission to the city claimed the booths were “low-impact” infrastructure and therefore planning approval was not required, in accordance with the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A05145">Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth)</a>. In 2017, Telstra and outdoor advertising company JC Decaux <a href="https://www.jcdecaux.com.au/press-releases/jcdecaux-renews-long-term-partnership-telstra-reinvent-payphone-australia">announced</a> a partnership to “bring the phone box into the 21st century”. It would initially have 1,860 payphones upgraded in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. These five cities represent 64% of the country’s population and 77% of advertising spend. Taking matters to court Earlier this year, Telstra’s application for 81 new booths was blocked by the City of Melbourne, and the city commenced proceedings in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to have the booths redefined as not being low-impact. Given the council allowed 40 booths to be installed in 2017, it’s unclear why its position has since changed. In May, Telstra hit back by starting federal court proceedings against the council in an effort to overturn prior proceedings. In June, the Brisbane and Sydney city councils joined the City of Melbourne as co-respondents. Melbourne Councillor and Chair of Planning Nicholas Reece said the new payphones would create congestion on busy footpaths, describing them as “monstrous electric billboards masquerading as payphones”. He said the booths were “part of a revenue strategy for Telstra”. But Telstra <a href="https://exchange.telstra.com.au/modernising-payphones/">claims</a> the new payphones are only 15cm wider than previous ones. A company spokesperson said the extra size was necessary to accommodate fibre connections and other equipment needed to operate the booth’s services. Who pays for, and profits from, payphones? In 2017, a Productivity Commission inquiry into the USO <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/telecommunications/report">reported</a> an average annual subsidy of A$2,600-50,000 per payphone, funded through the industry levy. But the levy doesn’t cover the cost of installing and providing advertising on booths. Also, Telstra’s advertising-generated revenue doesn’t directly offset the cost of installing and operating the payphones. Telstra has advertised on its payphones for the past 30 years. But display screens for advertising on new booths are <a href="https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/advertising-payphones">60% larger</a> than previous ones. The City of Melbourne is concerned because <a href="https://www.sgsep.com.au/publications/insights/the-economics-of-walking-deserves-far-more-attention">commissioned research</a> by SGS Economics and Planning estimates a 10% reduction in pedestrian flow because of the new booths. This would happen as a result of people getting distracted by the payphone advertising, and would cost the city A$2.1 billion in lost productivity. That said, federal legislation doesn’t prevent Telstra from placing advertising on payphones. So the existing court case could hinge on Melbourne city council’s argument that by increasing the size of digital displays, Telstra’s new payphones are no longer low-impact. The outcome should be known early next year. Do we still need payphones? At a time when consumers and businesses use about <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/new-report-tracks-internet-activity-on-mobile-and-fixed-lines">24.3 million mobile handsets</a>, it’s reasonable to <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-australias-digital-divide-fast-for-the-city-slow-in-the-country-ever-be-bridged-60635">question whether</a> payphones are still required. The number of payphones in operation today is sharply down compared with the payphone’s heyday in the early 1990s, when more than 80,000 could be found across Australia. But there’s strong evidence they continue to supply a vital public service. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298804/original/file-20191027-113991-16vo5j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298804/original/file-20191027-113991-16vo5j8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Telstra’s payphones operate in many small regional communities such as Woomera, South Australia. It has a population of less than 200 people. georgiesharp/flickr Currently, Telstra provides more than 16,000 public payphones. Last year, these were used to make about 13 million phone calls, of which about 200,000 were emergency calls to 000. So regardless of the verdict on the Telstra case, the public payphone is and will continue to be an iconic and integral part of our telecommunications landscape.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125815/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/mark-a-gregory-619">Mark A Gregory</a>, Associate professor, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/telstras-new-high-tech-payphones-are-meeting-resistance-from-councils-but-why-125815">original article</a>.

Technology

Warning: The new Telstra scam leaving customers out of pocket

Telstra customers are being advised to keep an eye out for scam that has sent realistic looking fake bills to inboxes across the country. The email is sent under the name “Telstra Team” and has been made to look like an authentic bill from the telecommunications company, containing an account and bill number, multiple links and branding that mimics Telstra’s. Once the links are clicked on, the victims are redirected to a Telstra-branded phishing site that asks for customer’s login details. After entering their username and password, recipients are taken to a second phishing page that looks like a payment form. Any credit card information that is then given through this form is kept by cyber criminals. Email security company MailGuard spoke <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/technology/telstra-bill-scam-email-phishing-scam-targets-aussie-telco-news-update/6eb9e953-61fa-4f53-99a4-ea4f3c4b2e9d" target="_blank">9News</a>, saying the scammers have made sure that their con looks as legitimate as possible. “These include employing high quality graphic elements such as Telstra’s branding in the email,” said MailGuard. “A key feature is the inclusion of the sentence ‘If you have any questions or concerns about this email you can get in touch with us as Telstra.com/contact.” Telstra said customers should “think twice before giving personal details online – instead, contact the sender using their publicly available contact details”.

News

Aussies feeling the sting when travelling overseas with Telstra

Telstra have shaken up their mobile phone plans and have ditched excess data fees and restrictive lock-in contracts. However, there is bad news for Telstra customers who travel internationally as some customers were disappointed that none of the new plans come with included overseas data roaming. Many old Telstra plans included allowances for international data roaming, such as 2GB per month. However, on all new plans announced by the company, international data roaming is an add-on. Telstra customers who travel overseas will have to buy an international $10-day pass, which offers a paltry 200MB of data and unlimited calls and texts in more than 70 selected countries. The 24-hour expiry available on the pass is based on AEST, and not the time zone of the country it’s being used in. If you’re worried about exceeding your 200MB per day allowance, Telstra have a solution. You simply pay another $10 for an extra 500MB that has to be used within 31 days. The company also offers pay-as-you-go roaming for destinations where the international pass isn’t available. It’s interesting to note that Telstra’s cheaper rival Vodafone offers a roaming add-on that lets customers use the data, calls and texts on their existing plan in 80 countries for $5 a day. Telstra told <a href="https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/money/are-they-kidding-hidden-sting-in-telstras-revamped-phone-plans/news-story/4ef2e0ebcd15bf1fddf3d2a732d3e0ed">news.com.au</a> that the new plans addressed customer “pain points” and eliminated bundles that customers felt they didn’t need. “Customer expectations are changing, and larger companies have got to be prepared to be bolder in terms of disrupting themselves before somebody else does it to them,” Mr Penn told News Corp. “We’re taking on that challenge and trying to lead the way in transforming the telecommunications industry and how we serve our customers.”

Money & Banking

Aussie mum's shock as she opens Telstra phone bill for $465,000

A Western Australian woman was left reeling after receiving a monthly phone bill of almost half a million dollars from Telstra. Mother-of-three Karen usually has to set aside $400 a month for her family’s phone and internet plan – but her bill in April said that she owed Telstra an astronomical $465,595.23. Speaking to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/phone-bill-massive-charge-from-telstra-shocks-family-a-current-affair/e43847e3-951a-464a-bb27-d0e4ad8118d3" target="_blank">A Current Affair</a>, Karen said she did not think her family could have managed to use that much data to incur such a high bill. “Has it been hacked? How has it actually managed to do that much data download without bursting into flames?” she questioned. According to tech expert Trevor Long, the family would need to spend nearly 4.5 million hours on Facebook or stream 30,000 movies in a month to push the bill to that level. “I think if there was actually that much traffic going through your home network… I don’t think the average home router or home network could cope with it,” Long told A Current Affair. Karen said she struggled with having the bill corrected for a month. After failing to make any headway with the customer call centre, she went to her local Telstra shop in Bunbury. Sales representative Robbie said it was “absolutely a mistake” due to a system misalignment. However, in the bill for the following month, Karen found that the mistake had not been corrected. The outstanding balance still rolled over and added into her next bill, resulting in a total of $466,000. “Their billing process failed, their technology failed, their customer service definitely failed, and their management have failed,” she said. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> We’ve seen some big telco bills, but nothing quite like Karen’s. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9ACA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9ACA</a> | FULL STORY: <a href="https://t.co/AOLCxHjBnn">https://t.co/AOLCxHjBnn</a> <a href="https://t.co/NDq5ZmKdXf">pic.twitter.com/NDq5ZmKdXf</a> — A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) <a href="https://twitter.com/ACurrentAffair9/status/1148521014806007809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 9, 2019</a></blockquote> Following the show’s report, Telstra’s group executive for consumer and small business, Michael Ackland, apologised “unreservedly” and confirmed that Karen’s massive bill was incorrect. “There were two issues – there was a system glitch error that created the original problem, and then human error to not pick it up as quick as we possibly could,” he said. “[Karen] should ignore that bill, because it takes a little bit of time for the billing systems to process the removal, and we have confirmed with her in writing that all those charges are removed and she should ignore them.”

Money & Banking

Family stung with 30,000 phone bill after holidaying in Bali

A Brisbane family arrived home from a holiday overseas in Bali to a massive $30,000 phone bill. The debt came as a shock to Craig Piper, as he had purposely made the trip to Telstra before the holiday to switch his and his wife’s phone, as well as his daughter’s iPad to international roaming. However, upon opening the bill, it quickly became clear that the telecommunication’s company had not switched open the iPad. “They put my phone and my wife’s phone, which is under my name under the data roaming but they failed to do the iPad,” Mr Piper told A Current Affair. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"> Dealing with telcos at the best of times is challenging...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/9ACA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#9ACA</a> | FULL STORY: <a href="https://t.co/GQt5qezyhO">https://t.co/GQt5qezyhO</a> <a href="https://t.co/tQmndlMRtj">pic.twitter.com/tQmndlMRtj</a> — A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) <a href="https://twitter.com/ACurrentAffair9/status/1139101586645344257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">13 June 2019</a></blockquote> He explained that the bill “put a lot of stress on our family”. “We opened it up and saw the, the amount of money that they were asking for and we just couldn’t believe it,” he said. Sabine Lebroy from finder.com told the program that planning ahead can help reduce these costs. “Either add a travel pack to your existing plan or buy a travel sim,” Leroy said. Luckily for the family, the telecommunications company were sympathetic to the situation and ended up waiving the entire bill.

Travel Trouble

Family stung with $30,000 phone bill after holidaying in Bali

Travel Trouble

Who is Australia’s worst telco?

Optus has fallen hard and fast out of Aussie customers’ good graces, with a report from the Ombudsman reporting a staggering 35 per cent in complaint increases from the last financial year about the telco. Optus Group, which is who the complaints were about, also includes Virgin. The Ombudsman received 40,665 complaints about Optus Group over the last financial year, which is a large spike from 30,120 in the 2016-2017 financial year. Ombudsman Judi Jones said <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/nbn/report-shows-optus-telstra-some-of-the-worst-performing-telcos/news-story/9fba80849eb6ec2ced4440cefd79fca1">to news.com.au</a> that there were no standout complaints, as issues rose for the telco “across the board”. “We’ve been working with Optus over the course of the year and they have received data from us regularly and have been working hard to address customer complaints,” Ms Jones said. Almost 18,000 complaints were related to mobile phone services, with issues ranging from connection troubles to missed appointments relating to the National Broadband Network (NBN). Although it might look bad for Optus, they’re not alone in an increase in customer complaints. Telstra received 85,500 customer complaints, which is an increase of 7.7 per cent from last financial year. Ms Jones said that the reason Telstra attracts so many complaints is that “they’re a much larger provider than other telcos”. Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) chief Teresa Corbin said that this continues to be a problem for Aussie telcos. “We believe that the government directed introduction of the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s new complaint handling standard and record keeping rules for NBN services contributed to this trend,” Ms Corbin said. Have you made a complaint about an Aussie telco? Let us know in the comments.

Technology

Telstra mobile phone scam alert: Scammers steal $13K from South Australian man

A South Australian man was hit with more than $13,000 in charges after scammers opened 10 mobile phone accounts in his name. This was done without his knowledge or permission. Tim Kennett believes that the scammers got his details whilst using Telstra’s online chat feature. Kennett told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/2019/03/05/12/15/telstra-scam-scammers-rack-up-over-10000-in-charges-on-account" target="_blank">9News</a>: “I received an account for $8,632.18 for a three-week period for 10 mobile phones that were opened by the person that stole my personal details during the Telstra chat,” he told nine.com.au. “That was just usage. Another $5,000 was charged for set up and cancellation fees for all those phones." What makes matters worse is that the matter took three weeks to be resolved by Telstra and their team. “I kept a record from January 10 to February 7 where I made 73 calls and 22 emails to Telstra and never received one reply back. It was totally up to me to sort this out from my end,” he said. “Not once in those three weeks did Telstra call me back, even though it was escalated to several managers.” After spending 80 minutes on the phone with an operator, the situation was resolved. However, it was a tedious process. “He had to cancel each of the eight mobile services one by one and then cancel my personal account with Telstra before he re-opened a new one to stop any further fraud,” Kennett said. “My issue with all this is the lack of customer service and empathy you have dealing with these call centres in India. My story is an example of what can go badly wrong.” A spokesman for Telstra told <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/2019/03/05/12/15/telstra-scam-scammers-rack-up-over-10000-in-charges-on-account" target="_blank">nine.com.au</a> that they take scams very seriously. “Make sure your computer is protected with regularly updated anti-virus and anti-spyware software,” the spokesman said. “Don’t respond to unsolicited requests to access your computer – companies will never ask you to do this. The scammer wants to infect your computer so they can access your passwords and personal details.” Have you been scammed like this before? Let us know in the comments.

Technology

Phone scam alert: How fraud syndicates are robbing Aussies of millions of dollars

Australians are being scammed of hundreds of millions of dollars by phone fraudsters claiming to be representatives of major organisations. Elaborate fraud syndicates have been calling Aussies in an attempt to gain access to their finances. In an interview with A Current Affair, Damian Cromwell said he received a call from someone who claimed to be from Telstra’s anti-fraud taskforce. As they knew his details and the fact that he was a Telstra customer, Damian listened to them. “They said they’re running a sting operation to get these scammers,” he said. However, the person he was speaking to was connected to multiple other people on the phone who persuaded him to buy $2000-worth of gift cards in the hope of catching the scammers. After the purchase was made, the imposter hung up immediately. “That’s when I started to panic. I thought, ‘Gee, I’ve been done,’,” he said. “I’m just a average guy. I’m not Forrest Gump – it can happen to anybody.” Lorraine Saunders, 71, also received a call from a Telstra imposter and lost almost $10,000. Lorraine received a call from someone claiming to be from the company to organise a new modem for her home. Shortly after the phone call, her bank account had been drained. “I thought it was true,” she said. “I had savings there for my grandkids, who lost their father three years ago. It was all the savings I had.” Sam Jenkins from Consumer Affairs Victoria said that although most victims ask for call-back numbers, syndicates have become smarter and now use multiple people. “The scammers will say, ‘Yes there is a number’, and they’ll have one of their fellow scammers ready to take that call in just a few minutes’ time when the unsuspecting member of the community calls them,” he said. “Major corporations and certainly government entities will never contact members of the community … and ask for money.” Aussies are also being bombarded with calls from scammers pretending to be <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/finance/legal/new-ato-phone-scam-swindling-hundreds-of-thousands-from-aussie-taxpayers">investigation officers with the ATO</a>. Speaking to ACA, Myrene Chambers said she received a call from a fraudster who threatened to call the Australian Federal Police if she didn’t back pay the ATO money. “There’s a lot of people out there who are getting sucked into it,” she said. “I was really scared. I actually thought it might’ve been the case. I started going through my head thinking, ‘What have I done? How could I have committed fraud?’” Last year alone, Aussies lost $340 million to elaborate scams, which are becoming increasingly harder to detect.

Legal

Police warn of new Telstra scam targeting seniors

Thousands of Aussies have been scammed out of millions of dollars after falling for hackers posing as Telstra employees over the phone. Police have issued a warning about the new phone scam, which particularly targets vulnerable elderly people. The scammers gain the trust of homeowners by asking whether they have been targeted by cold callers. They then offer a solution to stop the unwanted sales calls but ask for credit card details and passwords to “access personal computers” to guarantee the service. Leading Senior Constable Janine Walker told <a href="https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/5494540/ballarat-this-is-a-scam-you-need-to-be-wary-of/?cs=62" target="_blank">The Courier</a> that personal details should never be given over the phone. “Nobody is going to call you cold unless you’ve made an initial inquiry or complaint,” she said. “If somebody rings you out of the blue without any prior prompting or knowledge about an issue then it’s fairly safe to say that person is trying to scam you.” Constable Walker said the elderly and people living alone were most vulnerable to these scams. A victim, named Peter, said he spoke with a hacker from Telstra. "He had an Asian voice and said he was from Telstra," he said. "He asked if I get unwanted calls and he said ‘I can stop that tomorrow but I need some credit card details’. "I was thinking, this is bullshit, but I'll play along with you. "He started to get annoyed, but for someone older he could've sounded very plausible.” Last year the ACCC recorded that Australians lost a whopping $340 million – a $40 million increase from 2016. ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said scams were a national problem affecting millions of Australians. “It's very worrying that Australians are losing such extraordinary amounts to scammers,” she said earlier this year. “Based on just the reports provided to the ACCC, victims are losing an average of $6500.” “In some cases people have lost more than $1 million. “Some scams are becoming very sophisticated and hard to spot. “Scammers use modern technology like social media to contact and deceive their victims. “In the past few years, reports indicate scammers are using aggressive techniques both over the phone and online.” The ACCC encourages people to visit <a href="http://www.scamwatch.gov.au">www.scamwatch.gov.au</a> to report scams so it can warn others about them,

Technology

Spot the difference: Can you tell what's wrong with this Telstra bill?

Telstra customers are being targeted by a sophisticated email scam, which has seen countless users already fooled by a legitimate-looking email from hackers posing as the telco. <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/" target="_blank">9news.com.au reports</a> the email bears all the hallmarks of a standard Telstra email bill, down to the standard company subject line, “Your new Telstra Bill is ready to view”. And as you can see below, at a glance the phony bill has the same design and formatting. But if you look a little closer there are some discrepancies. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> PSA: Heads up, there's a convincing Telstra scam email doing the rounds we thought you should be aware of. More info at <a href="https://t.co/5aZrtY4EO1">https://t.co/5aZrtY4EO1</a> — Telair Pty Ltd (@Telair) <a href="https://twitter.com/Telair/status/996524441973805056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2018</a></blockquote> <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/" target="_blank">9news.com.au reports</a> the phony domain Telstra users are redirected to asks the would-be bill payer to deposit excessive funds to view the bill. Mail Guard editor Emmanuel Marshall said the “malware” scam was particularly devious. “A recipient who clicks on the ‘View Bill’ button will be directed to a malicious website that will deliver malware to their computer,” Mr Marshall said. What are your thoughts?

Money & Banking

Telstra glitch stops triple-0 calls from going through

A technical glitch has stopped people from making triple-0 calls across Australia’s major cities, with the problem hitting calls to police, fire and medical emergency services. NSW police has already advised people having trouble getting connected to the emergency number to call the NSW Police Assistance Line, 131 444. “NSW Police have been made aware of an intermittent Telstra Network issue affecting the receipt of Triple Zero phone calls,” NSW police said. The problem is reportedly hitting some callers in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia. <a href="http://www.news.com.au/" target="_blank">News.com.au reports</a> Telstra issued a statement that said a cable between Orange and Bowral was cut by an “unknown party” and this what was causing the interruptions. Telstra has also said services are “progressively” returning to normal. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Update: There are still intermittent interruptions to 000 calls in NSW, VIC & WA following the cable cut in NSW earlier today. We're working closely with emergency services in those States. — Telstra News (@Telstra_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/Telstra_news/status/992140623871279105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2018</a></blockquote> “We’re working closely with emergency services in those states,” Telstra posted on Twitter. Update: Telstra have since posted a photo on Twitter of the cause of the outage. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Update: <a href="https://twitter.com/Telstra?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Telstra</a> fibre repair crew on site at cable pit east of Orange. Significant fire damage consistent with lightning strike. We're working to restore services ASAP and are sorry for service interruptions. Current impact mostly in NSW & some interruptions in VIC, SA & WA. <a href="https://t.co/alyCfNIKpZ">pic.twitter.com/alyCfNIKpZ</a> — Telstra News (@Telstra_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/Telstra_news/status/992168736080543744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2018</a></blockquote> “Significant fire damage consistent with lightning strike,” Telstra wrote. “We're working to restore services ASAP and are sorry for service interruptions. Current impact mostly in NSW & some interruptions in VIC, SA & WA.” What are your thoughts?

Technology

How Telstra made $62 million by misleading 100,000 customers

Telstra has misled 100,000 customers by overcharging them $62 million in digital content without their consent and knowledge. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will take Telstra to Federal Court over claims it made false representation with its "Premium Direct Billing" service. Premium Direct Billing allowed customers to automatically add paid services such as apps, sports streams and games to their phone bill instead of paying instantly. However, Telstra has admitted between 2015 and 2016 the third-party billing service signed up thousands of customers to ringtone subscriptions or games without their knowledge and which they were not aware they had signed up to pay for. ACCC chairman Rod Sims said: "Telstra has admitted that it misled customers by charging them for digital content, such as games and ringtones, which they unknowingly purchased. "Many Telstra customers paid for content they did not want, did not use, and had difficulty unsubscribing from." Mr Sims said the service s saw Telstra gain a 'substantial revenue' of $62 million from 2.7 million customer mobile phones. "Telstra knew that the Premium Direct Billing service it operated led to large numbers of its customers being billed for purchases made without their knowledge or consent," Mr Sims said. "Despite this, Telstra continued to bill customers, making substantial revenue from the service at the expense of customers. "When customers contacted Telstra to complain many were directed to third parties, even though Telstra knew that they had difficulty getting a refund from third party suppliers, or cancelling their subscription. Customers were often left frustrated and out of pocket as a result of Telstra’s conduct." Telstra has refunded $5 million to affected customers and will contact other customers as they are identified. They have stopped their premium direct billing service with Telstra admitting they “did not get that right”. If you’re worried you have been overcharged, get in touch with Telstra.

Technology

Telstra's outrageous new charge

Just when you thought telcos couldn’t slug you with any more seemingly unnecessary charges, Telstra has upped the ante by charging you to fix its own problems. Sydney personal fitness trainer Kym Low was having issues with her Telstra Bigpond account and asked her regular “IT guy” to help her. As a small business owner, she needs the internet to send and receive emails. “The problem was that no email software would work, including Outlook and Thunderbird on Windows, and email apps on iPhone and Android, when connected to the internet via the cable connection,” Ms Low told <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/technology/telstras-now-charging-you-to-fix-their-problems/news-story/f14ee7ca25d3982678887e59af83f955">news.com.au.</a> “My IT guy spent a long time troubleshooting but had no luck. So he called Telstra on my behalf. He was doing more than just basic troubleshooting and whenever the Telstra tech suggested things he needed to do, my IT guy said, ‘I’ve already done that.’ And it got to the point where Telstra couldn’t help and my IT guy said, ‘Why aren’t you escalating this to the right places?’ “That’s when he was told we needed to be put through to their new Platinum team. But, right away my IT guy smelt a rat.” The only issue? It costs you extra money to access the Platinum team. “I wasn’t happy about that,” Ms Low said, adding, “It was clearly a Telstra problem so I was being asked to pay Telstra to fix what was essentially a Telstra problem because when my IT guy tried to connect his own devices, it still didn’t work. I just thought, ‘Great, more money for Telstra!’ Why push me to pay for Platinum tech help when I’m already paying an IT guy to help me?” Ms Low’s IT guy instead asked if they could speak to another Telstra tech. “The second Telstra tech was much more thorough, but he also couldn’t assist any further and, just like the first Telstra tech, he fobbed us off to the Platinum team,” Ms Low said. Telstra launched its Telstra Platinum in 2014, with the promise to provide people with “premium technical advice and support for your gadgets, computers and home entertainment” whether or not they are Telstra products. Telstra spokesman Steve Carey told the publication the Platinum service offers a wide range of technology services and help. “It is very popular and we have developed a range of options to best suit a customer’s needs. If a customer is experiencing a fault with their service, then reporting a fault means a tech support agent would be made available to resolve the issue,” Mr Carey said. “It’s possible that this issue may have been directed to the Platinum team incorrectly and we’d be happy to look into this further with the customer.” But Ms Low is not convinced. “I don’t think we were incorrectly sent to Platinum service as not one, but two Telstra techs tried to send us there as soon as they could,” Ms Low said. “I think Telstra needs reminding that we are real people at the other end of the phone when we are asking for help. I didn’t think the Telstra techs were very helpful, and at no stage did they offer to send a Telstra tech to my home. They just wanted to get me to go to the Platinum team and spend more of my money.” Telstra has offered to send a tech to Ms Low to help with her tech issues.

Technology

This telco was just named Australia's best mobile provider

A major telecommunications company has been named Australia’s best mobile provider, taking the gong from the incumbent telco for the first time in four years. Optus came out top in the P3 Connect Mobile Benchmark Australian test, which compares Australia’s leading mobile network operators on the quality of the voice and data services they provide customers around Australia. Measurements are taken across nine cities, 19 smaller towns and 6,400 kilometres of major roads, with the quality of the services graded to give each network a ranking. Optus had the top score for voice and increased its data ranking from last year to post an overall ranking of 887 out of 1,000. This is a 50 point improvement on the score of last year’s winner Telstra, which remained the top performing network for data. All three networks performed relatively well in major cities, but there was a significant difference in smaller towns and this is where Optus separated itself from the pack. Optus Network managing director Dennis Wong welcomed the results. "The result shows that Optus' consistent and holistic approach to network investment and improvement across metropolitan and regional cities and towns, along major roads, highways and in remote locations is paying dividends," Mr Wong said. "The best-in-test result reflects our particular focus on improving our regional service following our $1 billion investment commitment to regional Australia in July this year." Hakan Ekmen, the managing director of P3 Communications, said the results should be welcomed by Australians, and a sign that all network operators are improving. "The ongoing investments on upgrading and expanding their networks to meet customer demand let the market develop more and more towards an outstanding performance," he said What are your thoughts? Who is your mobile provider?

Technology

SCAM ALERT: Fake emails targeting Telstra customers warn police

NSW police has warned about a convincing new email scam targeting Telstra customers. The sophisticated email prompts you to click on a link and download software to your computer, which is malicious and allows the scammer to control or access your device. First reported by cyber security company MailGuard, a warning about the phishing attack was posted to the NSW police Facebook page on Tuesday. <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fnswpoliceforce%2Fposts%2F10155398832511185&width=500" width="500" height="583" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true"></iframe> The email is very convincing and at first glance looks like a legitimate bill from the telco. However, it encourages you to click on a link and download a zip file, which should be an immediate red flag. Telstra will never ask you to download a zip file and in fact, Telstra’s support page points out, hoax e-mails may “contain an unexpected zip file or other attachment.” However, the scams are becoming more sophisticated and the criminals behind this particular scam have even obtained a URL to make their email look more convincing. But like most scams, the devil is in the detail and the fake Telstra email is sent from a telstraq.com address which was registered on Sunday November 19 in China. A quick look and you may miss the extra “q” at the end of the URL or believe it’s a legitimate branch of Telstra’s billing department. But once you’re promoted to download a file, think twice. “It’s a good rule of thumb to never click on email attachments that are hidden in .zip files or have .exe or. js file names,” MailGuard said.

Technology

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