Elderly man swindled out of $2,000 by scammers who claimed to Telstra ‘detectives’

Sneaky scammers have been pretending to be tax debt collectors and Telstra ‘detectives’ to swindle victims out of thousands of dollars.

A 77-year-old man was conned out of $2,000 by scammers who claimed to be Telstra ‘detectives’ investigating fraud on Friday night.

The elderly resident let the two men into his Warriewood home, on Sydney’s northern beaches, and gave them access to his computer.

He was then told to buy $2,000 in Google play cards, which he did, but when he returned home the crooks were gone.

They had left a message instructing him to put the cards on his scanner so they could access them remotely.

Another man was conned out of $6,000 in an Australian Tax Office phone scam.

The 39-year-old man from Manly answered his phone early Monday morning to the scammer threatening to have him arrested if he didn’t pay an outstanding tax debt.

The scammer said a bank transfer was an admission of guilt and demanded the money be paid in gift cards.

The elderly resident let the two men into his Warriewood home, on Sydney’s northern beaches, and gave them access to his computer (stock image) 

He bought more than $4,000 worth of gift cards from a store in Balgowlah and $2,000 from another store in Manly before scratching the codes and sending through the numbers.

News of the scam was broken to him by a friend.

Police have put out a warning after a slew of scammers targeting vulnerable people. 

‘Telstra does not have detectives and no organisation will knock or call demanding money, especially by way of gift cards,’ police said in a Facebook post.

‘If they make contact, hang up.

‘If they come to your door, close it immediately and call police.’