@Oaktree @Glisten @saturnzoon @tonys @TAB @8ppleTree and interested parties.
HOW TO AVOID BEING TARGETED BY A SCAM
There are so many scams out there and they are becoming so sophisticated nowadays that they can easily bypass anyones better judgement. They come in a variety of forms, investment scams and billing and phishing scams
Aussies lost $480M to scams last year in 2023 and the methods for extracting money from unwary people is set to get a whole lot worse with the advent if artificial intelligence and a multitude of payment platforms making it exceedingly harder to escape detection.
The categories of scams include but are not limited to Romance, Job/employment, Marketplace and Impersonation
There was a book put out last year by the ACCC called "The Little Black Book of Scams" which goes into extensive detail about the way in which these scams operate and catch people off guard. It comes both in easy to read large print for the visually impaired or in audio format
Even if you are fully aware of what goes on with scams there is still no guarantee that you won't fall prey to one as there are lots of scams that seem credible enough on the surface of things and look very legitimate.
Things to look for is if they are calling you to act hastily or instilling a sense of fear in you if you fail to act within a limited amount of time - these are typical hallmarks of scams
Even if you think that its ok to proceed and looks like a genuine offer its worth holding back and double checking.
Signs of a scam include badly spelled URL's, demanding a wire or PayID money transfer, or offering a friend or family to come and pick up an item you're selling.
Scammers have ways to try and deceive you into believing that they are who they claim to be, so if you have any reservations it pays to delete the message and follow up with separate communications.
You can easily see if the company contacting you is a hoax or not by double checking with the real company on their official phone number and asking them if they had this offer, competition or whatever that has been presented to you to see if its authentic or not
They can easily inform you if they have had trouble in the past with scammers using their official logo to act as imposters and scam people.
Be wary of what you share on social media and maybe adjust your privacy settings to protect yourself.
Many scammers try and send direct messages on facebook and twitter so it pays not to engage with unsolicited messages and maybe put a bar on strangers contacting you via direct messaging on these platforms.
There are also ways unscrupulous scammers that can call you impersonating your loved ones saying they are your son or daughter requiring money
If in the event of falling for a scam, the key is to act quickly!
The advice I have read is to contact your bank straight away and cancel your credit card. If you have paid via Paypal there are ways to retrieve lost funds and banks may be able to put a freeze on funds.
Other things you can do is contact:
IDCARE, a national identity a cyber support organisation 1800 595 160 https://www.idcare.org
Scamwatch to report the scam https://scamwatch.gov.au