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Aussies warned of fresh Qantas points scam text

A new scam text is doing the rounds targeting Qantas points customers.

Eliza Bavin
·Personal Finance Editor
·2-min read
A composite image of people waiting in line to board a plane and a Qantas plane with the Qantas logo and a copy of the scam text.
Qantas customers have been warned about a new scam text. (Source: Getty / Scamwatch)

A new scam text targeting Aussies with Qantas points has been doing the rounds, with an urgent warning for Aussies not to interact with it.

“Received a text from QANTAS lately? Watch out for messages appearing to be from QANTAS about your QANTAS points,” the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch said.

“Scammers are impersonating QANTAS. Never click on links in text messages. Ignore, delete, and block.”

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The text in question appears to be from Qantas and claims the recipient has a large amount of points that are set to expire. It then encourages the potential victim to click on a link.

The text is designed to compel the recipient to give out their personal details, which would then be harvested and used by criminals.

Aussies lose millions to phishing scams

So far in 2023, more than $17.8 million has been lost to phishing scams. Over the entirety of 2022, $24.6 million was lost to phishing scams.

The vast majority of phishing scams are done through text messages, with more than 38,000 reports in 2022.

Phishing scams usually involve the criminals pretending to be from a real and well-known business, and try to lure Aussies to open malicious links or attachments.

To protect yourself from these types of scams:

  • Don’t click on hyperlinks in text/social media messages or emails, even if they appear to come from a trusted source

  • Never respond to unsolicited messages and calls that ask for personal or financial details - just press delete or hang up

  • Never provide a stranger remote access to your computer, even if they claim to be from a telco company such as Telstra or the NBN Co

  • To verify the legitimacy of a contact, find them through an independent source such as a phone book, past bill or online search

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