Indian immigrant Chiragi Patel was forced to cough up $8000 after she received a call from the 'Australian high commission'.
She was threatened with deportation and told that the police would arrest her if she failed to pay.
She believed the call to be genuine.
"I wasn't aware of this particular scam," she told Channel 9.
"Within 45 minutes, the federal police will arrest you, put you in jail for 72 hours. You will be permanently deported and will never be able to come back to country," were the threats made to her.
The 33-year-old, an immigrant for ten years, was forced to pay to give codes of 16 iTunes vouchers worth $500 each.
However, the demands did not stop just here. She was told that her husband's life was at risk and told to pay another $18,000.
That's when Chiragi Patel sensed something fishy and approached the police.
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