"Be vigilant": New scam involving Woolworths
Scamwatch, run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, has been warning Woolworths shoppers about an elaborate scam.
The scammers pose as virtual Woolworths representatives and asks shoppers to submit personal information to a text message.
The scam has shoppers worried as it is able to identify the name of the recipient correctly.
The text message tells recipients that a receipt from one of their purchases in 2020 had "automatically entered" them into a draw and they are able to claim a prize.
The text message asks users to click on a link. One shopper did enter the website and was addressed by “Suzy” and welcomed to the fake “Woolworths interactive prize universe”.
“I’m your virtual guide Suzy and I’ll be helping you to claim the prize you won today,” a robot said.
The fake website had similar features to the Woolworths chat feature, which has stung unassuming shoppers.
A Facebook user warned the supermarket giant about the scam by posting to Woolworths' Facebook community.
He said he received “an email claiming to come via the WOW online chat and to click “here” to receive your gift,” the user wrote. “Presumably a scam, so just wanted to make you aware.”
A Woolworths spokesperson refused to comment on how scammers were able to correctly identify the names of the text message recipients after being questioned by NCA NewsWire.
“We'd leave it to the relevant authorities to comment on the specific nature of the scam,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson also said that the scam is not involved with Woolworths.
“This is not an authorised message from Woolworths and is not affiliated with us in any way,” a statement read.
“As always, we encourage our customers to be vigilant of online and text phishing scams, which seek to imitate well-known brands to collect personal information.
“We never ask our customers for their personal or banking details in unsolicited communications. We report scams to the ACCC‘s Scamwatch and regularly update our Scam Alerts page on our website to help keep customers secure online.”