Scams, and the con artists behind them, are forever evolving and becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot.
ACM has compiled a list of current scams identified on sites such as scamwatch.gov.au, cyber.gov.au and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s website dedicated to informing people about fraudulent and dishonest activities.
Jobs and employment scams
BEWARE: Job scams are doing the rounds and are becoming more sophisticated in nature.
These types of scams are not knew but are doing the rounds once again.
- Job seekers are being urged to watch out for fake employment scams that offer ‘guaranteed’ ways to make lots of money, very fast, according to Scamwatch.
- The scammer contacts you by email, letter or phone and offers you a job that requires very little effort for high returns, or a guaranteed way to make money quickly. You may even come across false job opportunities on classified ad websites.
- The job on offer may require you to do something simple such as stuffing envelopes or assembling a product using materials that you have to buy from the ’employer’.
- To accept the job you will be asked to pay for a starter kit or materials relevant to the job or scheme.
- If you pay the fee you may not receive anything or what you do receive is not what you expected or were promised. For example, instead of a ‘business plan’, you may be sent instructions for how to get other people to join the same scheme.
- On completion of your work, the scammer will refuse to pay you for…
