92% of Australians reported being exposed to a scam in 2023. The Australian Government watchdog on scams reported Australians lost $2.7 billion dollars from scams, with investment scams the largest in terms of total losses.
On Friday 30 August 2024, COTA Australia hosted a SCAM Awareness webinar presented by Tessa Bowles, Senior Consultant, Group Security Culture and Advisory from the National Australia Bank.
Tessa Bowles provided a number of tips for staying safe online, including:
General Tips:
- Scammers change their tactics all the time, so be alert.
- Talk to / check with a friend or family member
- Never share PINS or passwords with anyone, including friends and family
- Scams are not just online – professionally printed fake investment prospectuses have been delivered via mail, scammers call on the phone and attempt to make contact via social media.
- Criminals create a sense of urgency, to get you to think fast or create the ‘fight or flight’ response to get you to act quickly. If you are feeling pressured to act – just take a moment to stop and pause and double check and confirm all the details that you see.
Investment Scams
- Always independently confirm any type of offer that you’re seeing (e.g. visit the official website directly instead of clicking a provided link OR call the number you have found for the company instead of the number the scam email or text message provided you)
- Check the investment against the Australian Security and Investment Commission’s Investor Alert list HERE
- Check the person offering you investment advice has an Australian Financial Services (AFS) license HERE
Invoice Scams
- Invoice Scams can be where criminals either impersonate a legitimate business or gain access to a legitimate businesses email account. They are particularly seen in industries where there are large transaction amounts being sent (e.g. when purchasing a property or a car or a caravan)
- If you receive payment instructions or a change of payment instructions via email spend a moment to pick up the phone and call that company or person or supplier and double check those details.
- Don’t forget to independently find the number for the company you’re paying to.
Romance Scams
- These are where criminals will pretend to be interested in having a relationship with you. Not very long after establishing the relationship (days or weeks), they will ask you to send some money. Often, they ask for money for a reason that is quite emotive (e.g. sick family member).
- In some cases, criminals are asking people to receive money on their behalf and then withdraw that money and send it off via cash overseas or send it on to another person’s account.
- If you are in any type of online relationship and someone asks for money, please do not send it. It is suggested that you cease contact with that individual.
- There are some red flags to look out for in romance scams:
- the criminals may profess love quickly (otherwise known as love bombing)
- the criminals may talk about their work, which is quite often in very trusted profession (e.g. government, army or aid organisation)
- they will make multiple excuses including why they can’t chat online or on a webcam
Phishing Scams
- Phishing is where criminals pretend to be other organisations (e.g. Coles, Woolworths, Australia Post, ATO, MyGov, Medicare, telecommunications companies, gas and electricity providers). They may direct you to a fake website to steal your credential information such as your login and password
- Criminals can send a text message or email saying they’re from a particular company, but the actual web address or phone number they give you is not really from that company
- Slow down, look and double check:
- the right web address for the company – especially your bank
- the phone number – don’t use a phone number sent to you in an email or text message
Remote Access Scams
- Remote access is where a criminal will contact you pretending to be from a company and suggest you have some sort of issue on your computer, and they need you to download a program to help you fix it.
- No reputable bank or organisation will ever ask you to install a program on your computer or phone.
For further tips and details on how to avoid becoming a victim of a scam, the full webinar is available to watch HERE.
Australian Government Watchdog Scamwatch HERE
