It's a scam!
Is it age, experience or just common sense but do you view every email notification that asks you to click on a link in the body of the email as suspicious? And do you ignore telephone calls from a number you are not familiar with?
I wondered recently whether I was being overly cautious and/or just plain paranoid with regard to phone numbers I do not recognise and unsolicited emails I seem to receive. However, I’ve now reached the conclusion that the answer to those questions is simply, no. It pays to err on the side of paranoia sometimes!
Data obtained from the ACCC’s Scamwatch website indicates they received 11,831 reports in the month of April 2018 with reported financial losses of $8,073,247. The leading types of scams reported in that month were 1,838 phishing scams and 1,128 remote access scams. The delivery method of choice for the fraudsters was telephone with losses of $3,247,616 from 5,273 reported scams followed by email with losses of $1,968,251 from 2,772 reported scams.
The data for April 2018 reports that while those who are 65 and over who have the highest number of scam reports, it is the 45-64 year age bracket who incur the highest financial loss reported per scam report. The following table has been calculated from data provided on the ACCC website:
Financial losses per Scam report by age bracket – April 2018
- Under 18 - $124.37
- 18-24 - $293.42
- 25-34 - $567.38
- 35-44 - $1,103.24
- $45-54 - $1,302.91
- 55 - 64 - $1,515.75
- Over 65 - $533.51
It is important to be vigilant with your personal data to minimise the risk of becoming one of these statistics. A few tips that will help protect you from becoming a statistic include:
- Never provide personal details to someone you don’t trust – and never in response to an unsolicited phone call or email;
- If you receive a phone call or email requesting personal details, verify the callers identify via independent sources e.g. if you receive an email that purports to be from your bank asking you to confirm various details, do not respond to the email and contact the bank directly;
- If you are receiving constant calls from overseas numbers, don’t answer them or return the call – block the number if necessary;
- Don’t open attachments via links in emails even from a trusted source without verifying with the sender first;
- Never give anyone remote access to your computer.
Case Study
Last year I was approached by a lovely older gentleman who had received a telephone call from an investment company in the UK inviting him to purchase shares through them. He contacted me as he was seeking confirmation as to whether the investment company was legitimate or not.
Unfortunately, by the time he had contacted me he had already sent them quite a large sum of money in a number of transactions. The company had provided him with share certificates, directed him to a website with all of their details and produced numerous documents to make his investments appear above board.
After a lot of searches and even offers to speak to the investment consultant in person (they never did return my calls) we wrote to the company accountant in the UK who confirmed that the company the callers were purporting to represent was not an investment company at all – the accountant was kind enough to direct my correspondence to the actual owner of the company who wrote back confirming that it was not the first time he had been asked the questions I was asking.
Unfortunately, it appears that my client’s money has been long spent by whomever the people were that he was conversing with.
This case highlights the risks of entering into discussions with people who are offering unsolicited international investment opportunities – even though my client thought he had checked the background thoroughly.
We’ve all made mistakes regarding our cybersecurity. Whether it be opening an email attachment without thinking or answering a phone call to be told the caller is calling in relation to a motor vehicle accident we were involved in last month (even though we don’t drive a car).
No one wants to become a scam statistic and following a few simple steps should help prevent you from becoming one of the 10,000 plus people filing a report with Scamwatch each month.
