Council issues fake phone calls warning

Published on 15 April 2021

Kempsey Shire Council is warning residents to be careful when receiving phone calls that claim to be from or on behalf of Council.

Please be aware that neither Council nor any organisation engaged by Council are presently calling residents to conduct phone surveys or to collect any personal information. Reports have been received of residents receiving calls from someone claiming to be from Council asking questions about “quality of life”.

Thankfully, the resident called the Kempsey Council Customer Service Team to double-check the validity of the call and raise awareness of the incident.

If you receive such a call, please make note of the number that is calling you and report the incident on the Scamwatch website.

While Council does commission surveys on some occasions, we will always make sure that this is published on our website. Staff and officers from Council may also call individuals however if you are ever unsure if a caller is legitimately calling from Council, you can offer to call them back through our Customer Service team on 6566 3200.

Scammers use many methods to obtain personal information, including pretending to be from a legitimate business such as Council.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Scamwatch website, recommends that you should never provide your personal, credit card or online account details if you receive a call claiming to be from your bank or any other organisation.

Instead, ask for their name and contact number and make an independent check with the organisation in question before calling back.

Any personal information given to a scammer can be used to carry out fraudulent activities.

The ACCC Scamwatch website is an excellent resource to keep up to date with how to keep safe, current scams to look out for and reporting a scam.