44 | August• 2017
INSIDE THE SCAMMERS’ NET
you will never get the prize in return,
or if you provide your credit card de-
tails you may find they take out more
than they said.
What to look out for: Any unexpected
exciting or valuable offer that comes
via email, letter or phone should be
regarded as suspicious, especially if it
asks you for an up-front cost such as
administration, postage fees or ship-
ping costs. Never send money or give
your credit card details to people you
don’t know. Legitimate businesses
such as banks or loan providers will
not ask you to pay an advance fee.
And again, if a get-rich-quick scheme
seems too good to be true, it is.STAND-OVER TACTICS
Like the hit men of old, scammers
will go to extraordinary lengths to
extort money from people. Often, the
scammer pretends to
be someone in au-
thority, such as
an employee of
a government
agency to which,
they say, you owelost less than $500. Criminals send
out thousands of spam emails or au-
tomated phone calls knowing that if
just a small percentage is success-
ful, they will make money. But some
scams are ‘low volume, high value’
- where the scammer must invest a
significant amount of time grooming
the victim, for a much higher pay-off.
These scams caused financial losses
of nearly $50 million in 2016, with
older Australians the most common
victims, according to the ACCC.
The scammers make contact with
you via email or social media, offer-
ing either love or an unbelievably
good investment opportunity. Over
time they build a relationship with
you until you’re in so deep you will-
ingly start sending them money.
What to look out for: Any offer that
looks too good to be true generally is.
Never send anyone money unless you
know them personally and trust them.
ADVANCE FEE FRAUD
One of the most common scams in-
volves the scammer asking
for an up-front fee
for a boon, such as
a cheap holiday,
a prize or a loan.
For example, the
scammer might tell
you that you’re enti-
tled to a rebate, inher-
ited a large sum of money
or won the lottery, but you have to pay
a fee to receive it. If you pay the fee
If in doubt, pick up the
phone and check it out.
Banks and businesses have
departments dedicated to
helping customers who are
being scammed