Fraud Awareness
Australian consumers are increasingly going online to shop and connect, taking advantage of the speed, convenience and greater choice that the Internet can offer. Unfortunately scammers like shopping online for victims too.
National Consumer Fraud Week 2014 (16-20 June) is an education and awareness campaign run by the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce.
The campaign is aimed at helping Australians avoid being duped by a scammer when buying, selling and connecting online.
It's also a message Bank of Melbourne constantly promotes in raising peoples' awareness of how to combat online fraud and scams, by doing things like:
- Thinking twice - if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is
- Finding out what other shoppers say - make sure the person you're engaging with, and their offer, is the real deal
- Protecting your identity - your personal details are private and invaluable; keep them that way and away from scammers
- Checking out if they are who they say they are - Scammers will go to great lengths to create appealing or compelling stories in order to trick you into giving them money, information or even access to your computer. One way is to google search describing the situation can help you find out if they are legitimate
- Only pay via secure payment methods - look for a web address starting with 'https' and a closed padlock symbol. Never use a wire transfer service to send money to anyone you do not know and trust, and do not share your financial details with anyone.
To stay one click ahead, visit the Australian Government's SCAMwatch website and get the low down on the types of scams targeting Australian consumers and small business. You can find out:
Check out Fraud Week 2014 for more information.