As Australians grapple with cost-of-living pressures due to rising inflation, scammers are taking advantage of people’s increased financial vulnerability.
With a major data breach hitting telecom giant, Optus, as recently as last week, the ACCC has issued a warning urging Australians to watch out for scams.
The cyberattack on Optus resulted in millions of customers’ names, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses released. For some customers, even their driver’s licence and passport numbers have been accessed by the hackers, meaning individuals could now be at the risk of identity theft.
But it’s not only Optus customers who need to remain cautious and protect themselves from harm.
With day-to-day living costs increasing and the RBA hiking interest rates, scammers are more likely than ever to target those who are struggling.
Below are five common scams to be aware of in 2022.
MyGov Impersonators
A scam impersonating myGov–the government website providing access to a range of government services such as the ATO, Medicare and Centrelink–has been on the rise in the last few months as Australians file their tax returns at the end of the financial year.
The scam comes in the form of an email, with the legitimate myGov domain and branding being copied in order for the fraudulent email to go undetected.
“You have an outstanding refund from myGov,” the subject line reads, sent from news@mygov.au.
The…
