The terrifyingly believable scam that sees hardworking Australians lose $50,000 in a matter of minutes with one very simple lie - as victims warn it could happen to ANYONE
Crooks are stealing thousands of dollars from hardworking Australians using increasingly sophisticated phone scams.
In the last financial year Australians lost more than $6.4million dollars to scams, an increase of half a million dollars from the previous year.
Con artists are posing as police officers or other authority figures to convince their victims to transfer money out of fear they have committed a crime.
Melbourne dad Jimmy Kalia almost lost his entire disability payout in one phone call.
He picked up his phone one day to someone claiming to be 'Sergeant Brown' from the 'Newcastle Police Station'.
In the background sirens can be heard as he warns the caller he is 'sending his team at your place within 20 minutes,' reports A Current Affair.
Mr Kalia was told his bank account was being used for drug trafficking and advised to transfer his money to a government account.
He was immediately suspicious so he hung up and called the local police station.
He picked up his phone one day to someone claiming to be 'Sergeant Brown' from the 'Newcastle Police Station'
But the scammers had managed to hijack the phone line and intercept the call, convincing him a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
He transferred $50,000 but was able to recover the money after contacting his bank when he realised something was wrong.
A pregnant woman was also targeted by scammers over the phone after being manipulated into thinking she had done something wrong.
Sydney aged care worker Kathy handed over more than $17,000 during a ten hour phone call which she described as feeling like she was 'being held hostage.'
The scammer was masquerading as her accountant to manipulate her into handing over her hard earned cash.
Victoria Police Detective Senior Constable Alison Johnson said it is horrible to see vulnerable people being targeted during such a tough time
She was so shaken up she went to the shops in the middle of the night in her pajamas to pay for gift cards they had demanded.
Victoria Police Detective Senior Constable Alison Johnson told a Current Affair it was horrible to see vulnerable people being targeted during such a tough time.
'My heart goes out to these victims,' she said.
'Especially during a time like this where there's job losses – it's just horrible.'
Rogue text messages are also being used to spread fear and incite Australians to hand over their money.
Federal Minister for Government Services Stuart Robert said they are working on strategies to stop scammers before they can make contact with their victims.
A trial involving Telstra will block any SMS claiming to be from Services Australia from an non authenticated number.
'The scammers are getting pretty sophisticated, but government is getting even more sophisticated,' he said.
Crooks are stealing thousands of dollars from hardworking Australians using increasingly sophisticated phone scams (stock image)