

“The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words,” Glenarthur added.Īustralians from Prime Minister Julia Gillard to people in the street expressed their sorrow and cringed at how the hoax had crossed the line of acceptability. The immediate consequence had been the humiliation of two “dedicated and caring” nurses, he said. “Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station’s management, was truly appalling.” “It was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call,” he said in a letter to Southern Cross Austereo Chairman Max Moore-Wilton. The hospital’s chairman Lord Glenarthur urged the station’s owners to ensure that such an incident could never happen again. The hoax, in which the radio hosts - posing as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles despite Australian accents - successfully inquired after Kate’s medical condition, has made worldwide headlines. Do not supply any personal information, especially passwords, to anyone via email.The owners of Sydney’s 2DayFM said it had done nothing wrong and no one could have foreseen the tragic outcome of the stunt, but two leading Australian firms suspended their advertising.If you think the address is correct, retype it in a browser window. Hover your mouse over links to see where they lead.Don’t open unsolicited email from people you don’t know.It is critical to stay vigilant and follow good security practices to help reduce the likelihood of falling victim to phishing attacks. Malicious cyber criminals are always attempting to leverage interest and activity in public health emergencies to launch themed phishing emails. These phishing emails contain links and downloads for malware that can allow them to take over healthcare IT systems and steal information. You can also report these calls to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Do not give out your personal information, including banking information, Social Security number or other personally identifiable information over the phone or to individuals you do not know. Federal agencies do not request donations from the general public. To protect yourself from falling victim to these scams, be wary of answering phone calls from numbers you do not recognize.

They are technologically savvy and often target young people and the elderly. Scammers are becoming more sophisticated and organized in their approach. These calls are a scam and are referred to as “government impersonation fraud,” meaning criminals are impersonating government officials for nefarious purposes.


A spoofed call does not mean that anyone’s telephone has been hacked, so you can simply hang up. Unfortunately, current technology doesn’t make it easy to block these spoofed calls, either on business or personal phones. This is usually done by unscrupulous salespeople, in hopes that people are more likely to pick up the phone if the caller has a number similar to theirs.
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Some calls are requesting donations.ĭownloadable apps and some free websites now make it simple for anyone to “spoof” a phone call and make it appear to come from any phone number. CDC has become aware that members of the general public are receiving calls appearing to originate from CDC through caller ID, or they are receiving scammer voice mail messages saying the caller is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
