REPORTS of a phishing scam in the region have been made with phony callers claiming to be conducting a survey on local residents, on behalf of Southern Grampians Shire Council (SGSC).

SGSC has advised residents not to divulge personal details over the phone to anonymous callers after reports of the scam.

Residents may be easily confused as the reports of the scam came just as National Field Services (NFS) were in the final stages of completing the legitimate annual Community Satisfaction Survey for councils across Victoria.

However, the NFS Community Satisfaction Survey is now complete.

If residents receive a call allegedly from council undertaking a survey seeking personal information, it will be a scam, as surveying has now finished.

SGSC chief executive, Tony Doyle said the actions of these criminals was really disappointing but there were a few things residents could do to help distinguish between genuine calls from council and scammers.

“It’s important to know National Field Services, who are currently finalising the Community Satisfaction Survey for Council, do not need identifying information as part of their survey, so they will never request personal data such as your date of birth, address, or credit card details,” he said.

“The Community Satisfaction Survey is conducted annually with information gathered to provide feedback on your local Council’s overall performance over the past 12 months in relation to roads, services and customer service.

“We understand the timing of this scam makes it even more credible for residents to believe the person on the other end of the phone are from Council.

“This is extremely opportunistic behaviour from these scammers and is very disappointing for us as we gain really valuable insights each year from the Community Satisfaction Survey.

“We advise residents to be cautious when answering calls,” he said.

Although the NFS survey is now complete, residents are advised that genuine Community Satisfaction Survey calls took the following protocol:

•            The National Field Services survey is conducted anonymously.

•            The callers will identify themselves by name such as "Mark" from National Field Services.

•            They will tell you how long the survey will take.

•            Calls will come from a number prefixed with (03) 9977 etc, not from a mobile number.

•            They will not ask you for identifying information such as date of birth or credit card information.

“If you believe you may have been scammed over the past few weeks, please get in touch with the police and check out the Scamwatch website for tips on how to improve security, including updating passwords and contacting your financial institutions,” Mr Doyle said.

For information on where to get help if you are concerned you have been scammed, check out scamwatch.gov.au/get-help/where-to-get-help.