www.scamwatch.gov.au
This year’s National Consumer Fraud Week is all about you. Running from 7 to 13 March, Scams: It’s Personal focuses on the personal side and impact of scams, and how we can fight fraud that occurs on the home front.
Scammers do not stop at anything to target victims, including adopting a personal touch. Increasingly scammers are finding ways to get information about your personal profile and use this to play on your relationships with people and organisations you know and trust.
The effects of scams on victims can be devastating, potentially causing psychological, financial, familial and social harm. Scams can also have a considerable impact on business, with fraudsters’ misuse of people’s trust in reputable brands or companies having the power to shake consumer confidence to the core.
Scammers don’t discriminate – they’ll target anyone, be it yourself, a loved one, small or big business, community organisation, charity or government. They also use a myriad of ways to slip under your radar. A phone call, SMS, letter, email, fax, blog, online chat or dating service – scammers will use any of these means to target you.
Here are some tips to keep scammers at arm’s length:
PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY
Your personal details are private and invaluable – keep them that way and away from scammers
DON’T RESPOND
Ignore suspicious emails, letters, phone calls or text messages – press ‘delete’, throw them out or just hang up
DON’T LET SCAMMERS PUSH YOUR BUTTONS
Scammers will play on your emotions to get what they want
RESIST THE PERSONAL TOUCH
Watch out for scammers posing as someone that you know and trust, or pretending to know you
Don’t let scammers into your life – protect your identity.
National Consumer Fraud Week is an initiative of the Aystralasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce.
ICAN is a proud Partner of the Taskforce and urges you to protect yourself against scams.