Lynette Carrall received the call on Friday afternoon. She first twigged when there was a silence before someone started talking.

“When there is a gap, I get wary,” she said. “I normally hang up straight away.”

A pre-recorded message then began, claiming it was a call from Centrelink and to press one for pensioners.

Ms Carrall then hung up. After unsuccessfully trying to alert Centrelink, she contacted Paterson MP Meryl Swanson’s office, and was advised it was a scam.

Ms Swanson said she had fielded 12 calls this year from people concerned by scam Centrelink phone calls.

“While the precise wording and language of the calls varies, it seems generally to involve elderly people being asked questions about their pensions,” she said.

“Sometimes there’s an implied threat that people won’t receive their payments, or will be deemed ineligible for a pension, if they refuse to provide information.”

The MP said she was not aware of anyone who had lost money through a phony Centrelink call, which led her to believe it could be a telemarketing scam.

She believed the person behind the scam may want pensioners’ details to sell onto a third party.

“Typically, Centrelink does not call people when seeking sensitive information,” Ms Swanson said. “It will issue a letter.

“I therefore urge all my constituents to avoid giving any personal information out over the telephone.”

Ms Carrall said she believed whoever was behind the scam was deliberately preying on the elderly, who were more likely to give out their information.

“People need to be wary of it,” she said. “It is a fraud.”

The Department of Human Services, which operates Centrelink, has received reports of scam emails, phone calls, SMS and Facebook messages and is aware of several recent scams.

The number of scams being reported has increased in recent years.

The department does call, SMS and email people and may ask questions to confirm they are speaking to the right person, including asking for the person’s name, address and Customer Reference Number.

But the department’s staff will always introduce and identify themselves clearly.

A Department of Human Services spokesperson said they were not aware of any instance that a pre-recorded phone message was used.

Scams should be reported to SCAMwatch.gov.au.