news, local-news, Orange Credit Union, Orange, OCU
FALLING victim to online fraud has been a rife issue, with the pandemic exposing peoples’ weaknesses and ‘romance scams’ now said to be on the rise. Following Orange Credit Union’s ‘Fraud Forum’ last Thursday, evidence from national data and examples given by Orange police showed that fraudulent crimes are present in Orange. “Scammers are targeting vulnerability and loneliness, which seemed to be the main theme during isolation,” Orange Credit Union’s marketing and communications manager, Mel Monico said. “People will let strangers into their lives where they’re preying on peoples’ good nature and fear, trying to get them to do something that they wouldn’t usually do, and people don’t think it could happen to them – but it’s happening right here.” MP Phil Donato opened the forum commending the branch for its work in delivering financial education to the city, while Detective Sergeant Megan Duckworth spoke to event-goers about some of the scam-related crimes in the region, pinning dating sites as hot spots for online sharks. Discussed was an online relationship that had quickly developed between a woman from Orange and a masked scammer who claimed be from the United States and working with the ‘world military’ – which left a trail of disbelief and legal trouble in its wake. “He’d convinced her that he’d been experiencing some kind of international issue with his salary and asked this woman if she could set-up a bank account…
