Scam and fraud awareness

We live in a good community but unfortunately opportunistic scams and frauds can still catch some people off guard. We live in a good community but unfortunately opportunistic scams and frauds can still catch some people off guard. Community Safety and Crime Prevention; Fraud Prevention; Community Safety

We live in a good community but unfortunately opportunistic scams and frauds can still catch some people off guard.

In Canterbury-Bankstown there were 1353 reports of scams and frauds with losses of $3.5 million between January and September 2021, according to Scamwatch. Across the state people reported 72,800 incidents, with losses of $77 million.

If you or someone you know has been impacted by scams or fraud you can report it and get help.

Report scams to the ACCC via the Report a scam webpage, and the appropriate agency listed below.

Types of scams	Where to report it
Banking scam	Your bank or financial institution
Centrelink, Medicare, Child Support and myGov related scams	Services Australia Scams and Identity Theft Helpdesk Call 1800 941 126
Cybercrime	ReportCyber
Financial and investment scams	Australian Securities & Investments Commission
Fraud and theft	Your local police or the police assistance line on 131 444
Image based abuse (sextortion), cyberbullying and illegal content	Office of the eSafety Commissioner
Spam	Australian Communications and Media Authority
Tax related scams	Australian Taxation Office
Identity theft	IDCARE 1800595160
Facebook, Messenger, Instagram or WhatsApp	The social media platform

For more information about where to get help click here

Types of scams

Scamwatch's most commonly reported scams in 2020 were investment scams and romance scams. Other commonly reported scams , which may still be lurking around today, include phishing scams, online shopping scams, identity theft, threats to life or arrest, remote access scams and hacking.

To learn about different types of scams and how to spot them, visit the scamwatch website.

Each year, the ACCC release an annual report explaining the key trends in scam activity and its impact on the community. You can find their report here.

Helpful resources

Subscribe to scam alert emails for details of the latest scams direct to your inbox

Check out different types of scams, how to report them and where to get help in the ACCC’s Little black book of scams.


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2021 Scam and Fraud Awareness Week 8-12 November

Stop scams, speak up!

The best way you can prevent scams is by talking about them.

Scam Fraud and Awareness flyer

Do you know what a scam looks like?

The three text messages below show just one genuine text, and two scam messages. Can you tell which two are scams?

If you think Image A is genuine then congratulations! This is the real and safe example. You can tell it’s genuine as it’s the only message of the three that has the mypo.st link format.

Image B is a SCAM. Cutt.ly is a link shortener that has been used in other scams. These links take you to a page that asks for your credit card details. That’s not to say that all shortened links are scams, but it is unusual to receive a shortened link in this context

Image C is also a SCAM. It also uses a shortened bit.ly link. It also contains a tracking number, which is not normally supplied in genuine messages.

Here are more examples of scams. Learn what they look like and beat the scammers!

Try our Scam and Fraud Awareness Week crossword to check your knowledge of scams. Answers are on page 2, but try not to cheat!

Crossword

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