(Australia CU) Scams are at an all time high and are getting more sophisticated by the day. There are some new scams looming around waiting to steal money from unsuspecting individuals. Here are two of the latest scams identified by scamwatch.
Mum/Dad scams
Scammers are targeting parents by posing as family members using a different number and asking for money. Conversations are often initiated by the scammers by using evasive language. They say things such as they are the oldest and the cutest child at an attempt to build trust and avoid giving actual proof of the relationship. They may ask the parents to delete their old number as they pretend to have gotten a new number and is in the process of setting up online/phone banking therefore their online banking is not available. The motive behind the scam is to convince the parents to transfer money into an account or pay for goods using their credit cards. Always check in with your loved ones if you suspect that you are being targeted by these types of scammers. Australians have been scammed out of $2 million already via this scam.
Tax time scams
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning the public of an increase in email phishing scams claiming to be from the ATO. These scams state that their ‘2022 tax lodgement’ has been received and the email asks them to open an attachment to sign a document and complete their ‘to do list details’. Opening the attachment takes you to a fake Microsoft login page designed to steal your login details. Entering your password could give the scammer access to your Microsoft account, allowing them to reset your passwords for other accounts like banking and online shopping. If you get an email like this, don’t click on any links or open any attachments. Forward the email to reportemailfraud@ato.gov.au, and then delete it. The real ATO will never send you an email or SMS with a link to log in to online services. While the organisation may use email or SMS to ask you to contact them, they will never send an unsolicited message asking you to return personal identifying information through these channels.
