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Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge warned consumers to avoid the phone scam, in which fraudsters offered to reimburse overcharged bank fees.

“This is a phishing scam which attempts to trick people into providing sensitive personal information such as credit card or banking details,” Ms Judge said.

“Fair Trading would never ring and ask for banking details and we do not provide a service to recover bank fees.

“These scammers are falsely representing trusted members of our community and are tarnishing the good name of Fair Trading.”

Ms Judge said the dodgy operators have been using a variety of names, including Phillip Anderson, James Gillespie and Officer Tracey.

The scammers provide a telephone number and encourage consumers to call them back with banking details.

When consumers call them back a person with a strong accent answers the phone and claims to be from the Office of Fair Trading.

Police received a report involving the offer of a transfer of $4000 to an account.

The scammer offered to transfer money into the account of an individual who had been deceased for nine years, Ms Judge said.