IT is not every day you are offered $7000 out of the blue and when that offer came for Stockleigh man Alan Tibbett last week it was certainly too good to be true.
Mr Tibbett was at home on Wednesday afternoon when he received a call on his landline from the "reclaim finance department".
Apparently Christmas had come early for the Tibbetts, with the man on the phone claiming they were eligible for $7000 in overpaid taxes and government refunds.
Mr Tibbett knew something was up straight away.
"They said the government was doing a study of the vicinity and these funds were being refunded from bank charges and tax paid on purchases," Mr Tibbett said.
"It seemed a most unlikely thing.
"With the budget troubles the government is having, I found it hard to believe they'd be giving that kind of money away to anyone."
Mr Tibbett said while he saw through the scam fairly quickly, it was a convincing ploy.
"I was about 25 per cent convinced I should look into what they were saying, and about 75 per cent thinking what a load of baloney," he said.
"The sticking point was they gave me a phone number to call and the names of two ladies there to speak with about getting our refund. That made it sound legitimate."
Mr Tibbett said his one regret was providing the scammers with his birth date when asked for personal identification.
"That was my one mistake," he said.
After hanging up Mr Tibbett went online to check out the validity of the call.
"I found the scam, described almost word for word online," he said.
"People should be aware there are those who will try and take advantage of you."
For more information on telephone scams visit www.scamwatch.gov.au
