Telstra customers told to watch out for 'refund' email

Telstra customers are being targeted by a new email scam. (Source: Getty/Scamwatch)

Scammers are impersonating telco Telstra and trying to trick Aussies into handing over their personal details.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) Scamwatch is warning Aussies to watch out for the email scam, which has a Telstra logo in the header.

The email tells customers they have accidentally paid their Telstra bill twice, and that they are entitled to a refund if they act quickly.

• Also read: Warning to Telstra customers: ‘Avoid disruption of your service’

• Also read: Telstra customer gets $707 refund for incorrect charges: ‘Check your account’

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“Hello, we inform you that your last invoice for April 2023 has been paid twice,” the scam email reads.

“We invite you to request a refund by clicking on the link below. Note: If this is not resolved within the next 12 hours, no refund is possible.”

Here's what the scam email from 'Telstra' looks like. (Source: Scamwatch)

Ignore, delete and warn others

Scamwatch said the scam had been hitting Aussies’ inboxes and urged recipients to delete it.

“Scammers impersonating Telstra are informing customers that they have overpaid and urging them to click a link to be refunded. Do not click the link. Ignore, delete, and warn your friends,” Scamwatch said.

Telstra said email scams like this had been doing the rounds for some time and returned every now and then.

“If you are ever in question as to your Telstra bills or account, use the MyTelstra app or website to review the most recent status,” the telco said.

Aussies who receive the emails can report it to Scamwatch. Telstra also has a list of active scams on its website, including other email scams, text-message and phone scams, and online scams.

Last year, Telstra revealed it had blocked around 332 million incoming scams and unwanted emails to its Bigpond customers’ accounts. This accounted for more than a third of all inbound emails.

Aussies have lost more than $194 million to scams this year, with phishing scams the most common type, followed by false-billing, identity-theft and online-shopping scams.

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