It is a modern fact of life that with technology that can help us, there is a criminal aspect of people that will use that technology against us to try and scam us of our hard-earned money. Many of you will likely come across one or more of the below scams that are occurring every day in Australia.
Some are obvious scams and others might seem legit. Either way, you need to educate yourself and know what not to click on when it comes to emails, text messages and calls. There is some scary stuff here so please read and share with your families as this could potentially save you a lot of heartache.
Common everyday scams to be aware of:
Remote access scams – unsolicited calls, emails or messages requesting they download a software patch or provide remote access to fix or protect their computer from the recent outages like the Microsoft outage.
Impersonation scams – Criminals are calling people and pretending to be from the National Anti-Scam Centre. They tell you that your phone number is being used in a scam in China and offer to help you ‘clear your record’.
‘We can help you’ scams – Criminals who contact you unexpectedly offering to help ‘fix problems’ with your account, phone or computer are causing increasing financial loss through remote access scams.
Posing scams – Scammers pose as a real business you’ve recently dealt with. They send fake invoices with changed payment details, so your money ends up with the scammer. People booking travel and buying cars have recently suffered more of these scams, but they can affect any type of business.
Fake news and ‘deepfake’ videos of celebrities and public figures appearing to promote online investment platforms are increasing on social media. ‘Deepfakes’ are lifelike impersonations of real people created by artificial intelligence (AI).
Relationship scams – These scammers pretend to a real person who wants a relationship with you, spending weeks or months gaining your trust. They tell you to invest your money or cryptocurrency in ‘opportunities’ that turn out to be fake, leaving you broke and broken-hearted.
Fake concert ticket sales – often sold through social media like those during Taylor Swift Eras Tour in February.
Courier scams – Scammers sending text messages and emails impersonating Australia Post and other well-known courier services. The National Anti-Scam Centre has seen the number of reports for delivery phishing scams quadruple this year, and is concerned that losses may increase during the holiday period.
Fake job ads – scammers are using fake job ads to attract job seekers looking for extra income. Of all scam types, jobs, and employment scams grew the fastest in 2023, costing Australians $24.7 million.
Loyalty point scams – relating to loyalty points like Coles and Qantas. Consumers receive a text message or email stating their loyalty points are expiring. The text or email includes a link to a fake website, which prompts customers to login. Customers may also be prompted to provide credit card details to use loyalty points. Scammers steal customers’ points, login details and personal information to use on other platforms and commit identity fraud.
2nd hand car scams – Fake buyers often claim to be living interstate and offer to arrange a bank transfer plus transport of the vehicle. They then ask the seller to chip in and pay the courier or insurance for the transport, to be reimbursed in the payment for the vehicle. Once the seller pays – to a third-party bank account which is actually the scammer – all communication stops.
Seemingly legit bank calls – Consumers are being warned to be wary of phone calls and texts that appear to be from their bank, following alarming reports of Australians losing their life savings to a highly sophisticated impersonation scam. Reports to the ACCC’s Scamwatch indicate scammers are using new technology to trick their victims, by making the call appear to come from the bank’s legitimate phone number or by sending a text that appears in the same conversation thread as genuine bank messages.
These are some of the most common scams that Aussies are being caught on daily. If something feels odd or not right, listen to your gut instinct and check with someone if you think it might be a scam. Say safe!
