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.
Scams associated with online shopping
THINK TWICE: Consumers are being urged to be vigilant to scams associated with online shopping and mid year sales. Picture: Scamwatch via Twitter
- People looking to capitalise on mid-year online sales are being urged to watch out for the latest associated scams doing the rounds.
- According to scamwatch.gov.au shoppers in a rush to secure discount prices associated with mid-year sales are more likely to fall victim to scams.
- Australia Post is warning that scammers are trying to impersonate the postal service with fraudulent text messages alerting to a parcel delivery.
- The text may say that delivery is unlikely to occur that day and will provide a link to various options for parcel retrieval.
- This text message is known as a phishing scam and should be deleted immediately.
- Phishing messages are designed to look genuine, and often copy the format used by the organisation the scammer is pretending to represent, including their branding and logo.
- Consumers are also being warned of fake online deals during the sales season.
- Australians lost more than $12.9 million to such scams in 2021.
- In an online shopping…
