Users urged to be careful if asked to give out their phone number

Social media users are being reminded to be cautious when responding to requests for their phone number.

Transcript

00:00Don't reply.

00:04It all started with a simple Facebook message from a friend.

00:08Can I have your phone number mate?

00:11And I thought that was a little bit strange because I haven't heard from him for ages.

00:15But the friend wasn't who he said he was.

00:18His account had been hacked.

00:20I am sort of fairly cautious because I had been caught up in the Optus scam but it seemed

00:26to tick all the boxes.

00:28The hacker provided details that lined up with what Louise knew about her friend, so

00:33she gave them her number.

00:35Within seconds, or not long, a minute perhaps, I was locked out of my Facebook.

00:41They'd changed the phone number, email address, everything like that.

00:45Her friends started to receive a similar message from her account before the account was removed.

00:50I'd lost access to everything that was on that account, all the photos and the memories.

00:56Across Australia, almost 22,000 hacks or identity-based scams have been reported to

01:02Scamwatch so far this year, with most victims targeted over email or text message.

01:09Facebook owner Meta says it's continuing to invest in tools and technology to prevent

01:14scams.

01:15Cyber security experts say there are ways people can protect themselves from hackers,

01:20like using multi-factor authenticator apps.

01:23We're in Black Friday this weekend.

01:25So this is the time that all the hackers are going to be smashing your phones and smashing

01:29your email account.

01:31So this weekend particularly, through to Christmas, be a lot more vigilant, like really be vigilant.

01:37Louise Manning just wants to make sure others don't fall victim.

01:42It might sound small, you know, I was locked out of my Facebook account, but it really

01:45does have quite large ramifications.