Aussie mum's warning after getting caught out by 'Coles rewards points' scam
An Aussie mum and business owner has shared the "foolish" moment she fell for a text massage scam claiming to be from Coles. Sar Nimarota said she's speaking out because she wants to warn others and make sure no one else is caught out like she was.
The Wollongong, NSW, entrepreneur told Yahoo Finance that she was in the midst of a busy day when she received a text telling her to redeem her Coles rewards points that were "expiring soon".
“Like many working people and parents I was in the middle of a couple of different things and quite focussed and I saw this text message and it said you have Coles rewards points,” Nimarota told Yahoo Finance.
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“Normally I would have noticed that the number didn't say Coles, but because I was busy my guard was down and I just didn’t compute and I clicked the link — first mistake.”
The link took Nimarota to what appeared to be a Coles website, which allowed her to “use” her rewards points.
“That’s when they got me because it was all branded Coles and it looked like a Coles site. It didn't look unusual. And because it said I had points and they were expiring soon I just didn’t compute and thought I better use them," she said.
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Scam warning issued by Coles
It's a scam that's been doing the rounds for months and Coles has a warning about it up on their website.
"This is a phishing message designed to obtain personal details such as passwords, credit card or banking details," the Coles website said.
"In most cases, once you click on the link within the text, you're redirected to a ‘phishing site’ where they'll ask for your personal information and use this to carry out fraudulent activities."
The website said the retailer would never request personal banking details in unsolicited communications.
NSW Police recently shared a post to their social media urging people not to click on any link received from the scammers claiming to be from Coles.
The government's National Anti-Scam Centre has recently warned Australians about the message scam, saying that scammers have also been sending messages about Qantas Frequent Flyer and Telstra loyalty programs.
Scamwatch has had 209 reports in the past four months, the website said.
“While the vast majority of reports to Scamwatch received so far are in relation to Qantas Frequent Flyer, Telstra and Coles loyalty programs, it is important for Australians to be aware that any loyalty program could be referred to in this type of scam,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said.
