Scammed by Cupid

A Kununurra man looking for some love and affection has fallen victim to a scam.

Although nothing like the dollars figure involved in the scam of another Kununurra family (that was reported in a five-part series in the Kimberley Echo recently), nevertheless scammed he was.

It all started when he listed himself on a 'lonely hearts' site on the Internet.

He frankly described himself and it wasn't long before he got a reply.

To find out contact details, it was suggested to visit her voice mail by phoning 1902 211 508 VMB 1552.

Having some knowledge of mobile phone Voice Mail, but no idea about numbers that started with 1902, he dialled up and was informed that to access this service cost $5 per minute up to a maximum of 30 minutes.

The call could be terminated at any time by pushing any number on the keypad.

He then entered into a maze 'for option one push 3, for option 4 push five etcetera'.

He became nervous and hung up the phone (not pushing a number on the keypad).

The thought of potential love clouded his judgement and he reasoned that this may be the normal procedure, so away he went again, navigating his way through the maze until he finally came across a voice that was not asking him to push buttons.

Just as the voice of his 'future beloved' started it was interrupted by another recorded voice telling him he had already spent $40.

If he wished to continue the call he should push...

The scam was complete.

Not happy, he contacted the 'lonely hearts' site and was told that they had become aware of the scam and had eliminated the woman from their site.

Still not happy, he called Telstra and informed the operator of the scam and asked if hanging up the receiver terminated the call charges.

He was informed that it wasn't Telstra's problem and no action would be taken.

And, yes, it was possible that a bill would be on its way with two $150 telephone calls on it.

"I can't believe I was so easily scammed," he told the Kimberley Echo last week.

"I just hope that by publicising this I can stop other people being caught out," he said.

However, on Monday, he called the Kimberley Echo with a postscript to the story.

Talking to another Telstra operator over another matter, he asked the same questions about being scammed.

She sympathised and erased the calls from his bill.