Have you been receiving more scam calls and messages recently?
Have you stopped answering calls from unknown numbers? We certainly
have.
According to the ACCC, Australians lost over $211 million to
scams in 2021, representing an 89% increase on the amount lost in
the year before. Further, phone- and social media-based scams are
becoming a larger proportion of the overall scams seen in
Australia, having ‘exploded’ since the COVID-19 pandemic
began.1
Many scammers took advantage of the global shift to online
shopping, e.g. by sending fake links to “track your
package” or to release it for delivery (which, if clicked,
cause malware to be installed on your device), by posing as an
online retailer requiring your credit card details to “process
a refund” (read: steal your identity and financial
information), or by setting up fake websites and investment
platforms cloning the names and addresses of legitimate businesses
and mirroring real time trading events to trick people into
“investing” in non-existent cryptocurrency, as this young couple unfortunately found out to
the tune of $110,000.
Several scams were specifically designed to take advantage of
the uncertainty and isolation caused by the pandemic. Some scammers
would, for example: present opportunities to invest in a fake
vaccine company or to purchase phony medication; pose as medical
professionals, claiming that your relative has the virus and that
you must pay for their treatment; offer fake…
