Staying Scam Safe

Last year, Australians lost over $2.7 billion dollars to scams! Scams are an ever-growing problem that we are all facing daily, and unfortunately, we can see no end in sight. This is why education and prevention are important now more than ever. We need to educate ourselves on what to do if you find yourself in a sticky situation, how to identify scams and most importantly, how to avoid scams.

Whether a scam be by text, call, email, or even social media – the warning signs are usually quite similar. Here are some red flags to watch out for:

• Play on emotion
• Unusual payment requests
• Too good to be true
• A sense of authority or urgency

The best approach is to Stop, Check and Protect!

• Stop and think about what is happening
• Don’t rush or give in to the urgency
• Never be pressured to make a payment

• Check and verify the information by calling official organisations e.g. Phone your Bank on their direct line
• Protect your passwords by using a password safe/vault
• Use Multi Factor Authentication wherever you can
• Never share security codes, pins or passwords

So how can you educate yourself? There are many anti-scam websites that provide up-to-date information:

• IDCARE – This is a national identity & cyber support service for Australia and New Zealand. They have a great learning centre, as well as support services for individuals and organisations.
• ScamWatch – This is where you can go to not only report a scam but stay current on the types of scams floating around, how to detect and protect yourself against scams.

A few common scams we see as Accountants are:

Phishing Scams

This is when scammers contact you via call, text or email and pretend to be a business or person e.g. the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), your bank, Australia Post etc. There is usually a sense of urgency to take action e.g. click on link, provide bank details or go to jail.

How to protect:

• Contact details will be slightly different to the real details e.g. links, website, contact details to take your time to look into this
• Go direct and check with your main contact via your usual contact method e.g. ATO debts and refunds – call your accountant/tax agent
• NEVER provide login details to anyone
• Use your normal secure channels to login, rather than clicking on links in texts or email

Invoice Scams

This is where scammers try to impersonate the supplier, usually by email, advising of new bank account details or a change to bank account details.

How to protect:

• NEVER rely on an email to confirm bank details, instead ALWAYS phone
• Phone using a number you have previously used to contact the supplier rather than relying on contact details within the email
• When making the payment, check PayID – when banking online it displays the account name of the supplier, check that the name matches the supplier
• Enable multi-factor authentication with your bank when making payments and remember to NEVER share your code

Investment Scams

Scammers will usually promise a quick and high return with minimal risk via shares, term deposits, cryptocurrency. They can be very convincing so it’s important to identify the warning signs e.g. contacting you out of the blue, if it’s too good to be true – it probably is!

How to protect:

• Ask for their Australian Financial Services Licence number, a legitimate adviser cannot legally provide advice on investments without this
• Call the supplier using their legitimate contact details
• Ask for a meeting in person
• Check the Investor alert list (if you can’t find a name on the list, it doesn’t mean you can trust it. ALWAYS do your own research and check before you invest)

If ever come across the unfortunate situation of being scammed, it’s best to act fast:

• Contact your bank immediately to put a hold on your accounts/cards
• Contact any necessary third party e.g. Your Accountant for ATO scams
• Get help by contacting IDCARE
• Report it to ScamWatch

Let’s all try to be as scam savvy as possible – learn how to spot and avoid a scam, stay educated with new scams arising, and know when to stop, check and protect to stay scam safe.

– April Limbert

Posted 26.09.2024

This article is compiled as a helpful guide for your private information and is subject to copyright. We suggest that you do not act solely on the basis of material contained in this article because items are of general nature only and may be liable to misinterpretation in particular circumstances. We recommend that our advice be sought before acting on any of these crucial areas.