06 Nov Scams Awareness Week 2022

Scams Awareness Week 2022

CRM Brokers is proud to support Scams Awareness Week (7–11 November 2022). Scams Awareness Week is an annual campaign hosted by the ACCC and the Scams Awareness Network, which raises awareness about common scams and offers tips on how people can protect themselves from scammers.

This year Scams Awareness Week is about encouraging people to learn ways to identify scams and take the time to check whether an offer or communication is genuine before you act on it.

With scammers continually developing new ways to catch people out, we need to increase our vigilance in checking for those little clues that can alert us that something is a scam.

Scams cost Australian consumers, businesses, and the economy hundreds of millions of dollars each year and cause serious emotional harm to victims and their families.

In 2021 Australians made more than 286,600 reports to Scamwatch and reported losses of around $324 million. By the end of August this year, Australians had lost even more with reported losses of over $381 million. As alarming as these numbers are, we know that around one third of people who are scammed never tell anyone, so the true numbers are probably much higher.

There are some simple ways to detect a scam. These are some things to look out for:

• A person or a message urging you to act quickly, whether it’s a threat to make an urgent payment, a request for upfront payment or a limited opportunity too good to miss.
• A person or a message asking you to update or provide your personal details, such as identifying information, banking details or passwords, or asking to remotely access your device.
• Any payment request via unsecure or unusual methods such as cryptocurrency, gift cards or bank transfer.
• A person or suspicious message claiming they have new contact details or asking for payment to a new bank account.
• Anyone offering unsolicited financial or investment advice or claiming you can make fast or guaranteed money with little to no risk.

Scams can cause serious harm, so take the time to check whether an offer or contact is genuine before you act on it. Here are some simple tips to protect you from being scammed:

Know the signs

Learn to identify key scam signs and protect yourself. If you spot any of the following signs—stop to check whether an offer or communication is real:

• Something urging you to act quickly.
• A caller threatening you for immediate payment.
• Messages and emails asking you to click on links or open attachments.
• Someone asking for your passwords, or personal and financial details.
• Offers that sound too good to be true.
• A caller asking to remotely access your computer.
• Requests for payment via unsecure or unusual methods such as cryptocurrency, gift cards or bank transfer.
• Requests asking for payment to a new bank account.
• Unsolicited offers of financial or investment advice.
• Offers to make fast or guaranteed money with little to no risk.

Stop and check

Be careful of links and attachments.

Don’t click on or download anything you don’t trust, especially in unexpected or suspicious texts or emails.

• If unsure, check that a communication is real by contacting the person or organisation directly using details you’ve found yourself.
• Scammers can spoof phone numbers and emails so they appear to be sent from a genuine source. Don’t automatically trust something just because it appears in a previous conversation with a trusted source.
• Make sure your antivirus software is up to date.

Protect your personal information

Never give personal information to a stranger. Scammers will pose as a legitimate contact to get your details to hack your accounts or steal your identity:

• Anyone asking for your passwords or access to your device is likely a scammer.
• For added security enable two-factor authentication on your accounts where possible.
• Use strong passphrases for your online accounts and protect your network and devices with antivirus software.

Be careful with payments

Use secure payment methods such as credit card.

• If a known contact claims they have a “new” bank account, phone number or other details, call the person to confirm using a trusted number you’ve used before.
• When making a large payment to a new recipient, or recipient who claims to have changed their bank account, always call to confirm their bank details using a number found on their website or that you have used before.

Verify before you buy

If you’re buying something on a site or through a seller you haven’t used before, do your research first.

• Look for the sellers’ terms and conditions, ABN, and physical address. The company’s address should have a street name, not just a post office box.
• Search a seller or business name and details online for independent reviews.
• Don’t rely on seeing a padlock in the address bar of your browser – this doesn’t guarantee you’re buying from a real company.

Remember; Scammers can pretend to be anyone online, including the government or your bank so you can never be entirely sure who you are dealing with when you’re contacted out of the blue.

Research any opportunity that’s too good to be true

Be wary of anyone that claims you can make easy, fast or guaranteed money.

• Seek professional advice from a registered financial advisor and check they’re registered on the ASIC website.
• Do your research before making any decisions and check Moneysmart and Scamwatch for information on investment scams.

The Scamwatch and ACCC websites contain a range of tools and resources about scams.

• Scamwatch Report Form: If you’ve come across a scam you can report it here.
• Scamwatch reporting statistics: Provides up-to-date statistics on scams reported by Australians.
• Targeting Scams Reports: Our yearly report on scam trends and statistics.
• Helping a friend or family member who is a victim to a scam: Useful information if someone close to you has been scammed.
• Be Safe, Be Alert Online: Information on organisations who may be able to help when someone has been scammed.
• Where else to get help: Other organisations who might be able to help when someone has fallen victim to a scam.
• Little Black Book of Scams: Information on identifying a scam (available digitally in a range of languages).

Stay Smart – Act Now

A cyber insurance policy should be part of every successful business’s risk management framework. Cyber insurance is not the first line of defence; it is designed to protect a business when it’s IT security, policies and procedures fail to stop an attack.

Don’t wait until it’s too late – click here to obtain a Cyber Insurance quote online in a matter of minutes.

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