Australians lose over $229 million to scams in 2015.
There are various internet and email scams around at the moment which you may or may not be aware of.
Fake Job Advertisements
Put simply, a job is advertised that may appear to be from a respectable company. In one case the job was advertised on the Government Job Active website and was supposedly with Boeing. Applicants are told they would work from home. In most cases there is no actual work provided for 4 to 6 weeks and during this period the victims of the money laundering scams receive cash in their bank accounts and are told to transfer the money to strangers overseas.
Scam Surveys and Fake Gift Card Offers
Scammers use fake gift card promotions to trick consumers into handing over their personal information such as banking details or passwords, which are later used to steal your money or your identity, or to on-sell to other scammers. They may use the logos of big retailers such as JB Hi-fi, Bunnings, Coles and Woolworths.
Protect your personal information by verifying whether an offer is legitimate by checking if it is listed on the retailers’ official website or by calling the retailers’ official customer service line.
Virus Email
One of the latest virus emails is using the AGL logo to appear credible. When you click on the Log in button a virus called Cryptolocker is installed on your computer which will lock all your files on your PC and you will not be able to access them. This is an example of the text in the email.
Do NOT open the email and delete it immediately. If you want to verify if it may be a legitimate email, phone the company or visit their legitimate website. Do NOT click on any of the links on the email.
If you come across any possible scams, check the Scamwatch website at www.scamwatch.gov.au
You can also subscribe to the scamwatch website to receive email alerts on the latest scams.
