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Coles shoppers told to ‘ignore’ this text message

Coles customers are being targeted by a new scam text message.

Eliza Bavin
·Personal Finance Editor
Updated ·2-min read
A composite image of the scam text targeting Aussies and the exterior of a Coles supermarket.
Coles customers have been urged not to be fooled by this scam text message. (Source: Scamwatch / Getty)

Aussies who collect Coles rewards points have been targeted by a new scam text message making the rounds.

The text claims the recipient's Coles rewards points are about to expire, but it’s just a clever ruse to steal their personal information.

“Scammers are impersonating Coles. If you've signed up to a supermarket loyalty program, access your points balance through the official app. Don't click the link. Ignore & delete,” the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch said.

Coles is just the latest in a number of well-known brands being impersonated by scammers looking to rob Aussies of their hard-earned cash.

Scamwatch recently warned Aussies of a myGov scam text message which claimed the recipient needed to update their details to access a government subsidy, and a scam involving fake scratchies turning up in mailboxes.

Scams crackdown

The most recent federal budget provided $10 million over four years to establish a new SMS sender ID registry.

The registry will act as a blocking list and help stop scammers from impersonating major brands and government agencies such as Linkt, myGov, Australia Post or your bank.

Text messages were the leading contact method for scammers, according to the ACCC, making up one in three scam reports, compared to 29 per cent for phone calls.

Scammers are currently able to copy or ‘spoof’ message headers from real brands and send fake messages in the same message thread to appear as genuine messages. Common examples include fake Australia Post delivery text messages or fake ATO ‘refunds’.

So far in 2023, Aussies have lost more than $14.5 million to text message scams from more than 60,000 reports, according to Scamwatch.

Text message scams often aim to steal people's personal or financial information through ‘phishing’. Aussies have lost more than $17.2 million to phishing scams so far this year.

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