They had her date of birth, address and even a driver licence number, but Julie Murray was too clever to fall for the scam which could have cost her a couple thousand dollars.
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Now she is speaking out to warn others so they don't fall into the trap.
It was Tuesday morning when Mrs Murray got a phone call telling her she was entitled to a $7,698 GST refund from the Commonwealth Government Grants Department.
Like most people, Mrs Murray can quickly tell the difference between a legitimate call and one out for money.
But this time was a little different.
"The thing that really shocked me was that he knew everything," she said.
"He had all my details, he had my name, my date of birth, my address, he knew which bank I banked with, he knew my driver license number and knew I had my middle name on my license, just things you take for granted that are yours.
"This is the first one that I've ever had that knew everything already, he didn't even have to fish."
It went bad for the scammer right at the end, when he asked for the expiry date on her credit card.
"I told him I can't legally give that to him over the phone and told him to send all the paperwork to my address and as soon as I said that, he said that would not work and he hung up," she added.
"The thing is, he was so polite, he wasn't pushy and I can see any oldie agreeing with him because he has all the details and that's what really annoys me, that they are going to catch people.
"When someone rings you up and tells you you're going to get $7,698, that's easy money, so you're going to listen.
"It's no different to someone spending $50 on the lottery each week. [But] $50 is nothing if you're going to get a good pay-out."
IN OTHER NEWS:
Mrs Murray immediately called the Department of Social Services fraud reporting hotline who advised her this particular scam had been going around in July of last year.
"The hotline said they [scammers] didn't know all this information last year, so they're getting better at what they've got," she said.
Scamwatch is run by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. It provides information to consumers and small businesses about how to recognise, avoid and report scams.
According to statistics published by the group, there were 175 reports of attempted rebate scam - which Mrs Murray's interaction comes under - for December, 2020.
Inspector David Maher of Orange police said the best practice is to report scams to the DSS. If you think you have provided your bank account or credit card details to a scammer, also contact your bank.