SMS scam doing the rounds

Those people looking to get to grips with their credit cards and other aspects of their personal finances may want to consider using a special mental test, it has been suggested. Writing in an article for Lifehacker, Jason Fitzpatrick points out those pe

Details of a SMS scam currently in operation where people have been sent threatening text messages with the aim of getting them to give up their credit card details have been unveiled.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) reveals it has received a number of complaints from users receiving SMS messages which use death threats to ask for money to be paid into specific accounts, the Australian reports.

Such messages claim that if action is not taken then recipients will be murdered.

"These threats are a particularly nasty type of scam," Chris Chapman, chair of the ACMA, points out.

Adding that such messages "should simply be ignored", he claims they have been sent with the sole intention of frightening recipients into providing credit card details and personal information.

Meanwhile, Zane Jarvis, senior information security analyst for AusCERT, states the credit card scam may be the work of international money laundering groups.

News of the scam comes as the Australian Federal Police recently revealed that people have been receiving emails from fraudsters which - under the pretence of being from the police force - attempt to get people to disclose their credit card and bank account details and other pieces of personal information.

Written by Joe Letts