Released 20/05/2018
Scams Awareness Week runs from today (Sunday) until 27 May 2018. This year Canberrans are urged to be on the lookout for threat-based impersonation scams by taking a moment to ‘Stop and check: is this for real?’
In these scams, scammers might call or email you and pretend to be from a government agency or well-known, trusted business. They then use threats to pressure or scare you into giving them your money or personal information.
The ACCC’s Scamwatch received almost 33,000 reports of these scams in 2017. Over $4.7 million was reported lost and more than 2800 people gave their personal information to these scammers.
Locally, Canberrans lost approximately $50,000 to what is known as a ‘remote access scam’. A caller, often pretending to be from a large telecommunications or computer company, such as Telstra, the NBN or Microsoft, will try to convince you that you have a computer or internet problem and that you need to buy new software to fix the problem. The scammer may try to talk you into buying unnecessary software or a service to ‘fix’ the computer, or they may ask you for your personal details and your bank or credit card details.
Canberrans are encouraged to:
- Ask yourself whether the person or business that’s contacted you out of the blue is who they say they are.
- Verify the identity of the contact through an independent source, such as a phone book or online search, then get in touch with them to ask if they contacted you. Don’t use the contact details provided by the caller or in the message sent to you.
- Never send money, or give your banking or credit card details or other personal information to anyone you don’t know or trust, and never by email or over the phone.
- Know that a government agency or trusted business will never ask you to pay them with gift or store cards, iTunes cards, wire transfers or bitcoin.
- Never give anyone remote access to your computer if they’ve contacted you out of the blue – whether through a phone call, pop up window or email.
For more information about these scams, where to get help or to report a scam, visit the Scamwatch website www.scamwatch.gov.au/scamsweek2018.
Below is data on what scams are most perpetrated in the ACT:
2017 threat-based impersonation scam reports to Scamwatch | Reports from the ACT | |
|---|---|---|
Scam category | Number of reports | Amount lost |
Threats to life, arrest or other | 186 | $ 12,348 |
Phishing | 113 | $ 143 |
False billing | 80 | $ 1,212 |
Identity theft | 77 | $ 955 |
Remote access scams | 72 | $ 47,148 |
Other business, employment & investment scams | 55 | |
Upfront payment & advanced fee frauds | 50 | |
Hacking | 40 | $ 5 |
Malware & ransomware | 34 | |
Reclaim scams | 21 | $ 1,800 |
Other buying & selling scams | 16 | |
Overpayment scams | 6 | |
Classified scams | 1 | |
Nigerian scams | 1 | |
Grand Total | 752 | $ 63,611 |
- Statement ends -
Shane Rattenbury, MLA | Media Releases
Media Contacts
| Name | Phone | Mobile | |
|---|---|---|---|
Richard Fox |
0435 657 164 |