Scams To Watch Out For This Christmas

SCAMS TO WATCH OUT FOR THISChristmas

Words 10 Ellen Media

There are unfortunately numerous scams to keep a careful eye on this season. Christmas is a time for joy and celebration, no one deserves to get caught in a situation where they’re taken advantage of. Scammers tend to weave their way into our lives when we least expect it. So, to reduce your worries, we have compiled a list of the current deceptive scams you should know. Even the most aware people can get caught in these manipulative scams so stay alert and protect yourselves and families this festive season.

With Australians likely to spend over $11 billion on presents this year, it comes as no surprise that Christmas is the busiest shopping time of the year. Due to the pandemic, many people have turned to online shopping as it’s an easier and more convenient way to check off their lists. In fact, Roy Morgan Market Research Company states that 48% of presents are predicted to be bought online this year, meaning that plenty of Australians will be trusting their card details with numerous online websites.

SHOPPING SCAMS

With this knowledge, scammers will be on the lookout to con money from frantic and rushed shoppers who most likely won’t consider this as a possibility while they continue to quickly add items to their cart.

So how do I avoid being scammed while I shop online? Great question. Keep in mind that Christmas brings about the likes of scammers who are crafty in creating fake online stores with too good to be true discounts that never arrive on your doorstep. When searching for potential gifts on the Internet, remember to research the website thoroughly by searching the company name with ‘scam’ beside it to see what results may pop up. If you haven’t found any issues yet, remember to make sure the payment method is legitimate once you reach the last step of your shop. For example, if PayPal is your desired payment method, check that it’s using the real platform on the website. Unless you know what you are doing we suggest you, avoid websites that ask you to pay by cryptocurrency, bitcoin, bank transfers, or gift cards. It’s important to pay through the likes of PayPal and credit card transactions.

DELIVERY SCAMS

As online shopping during the Christmas season increases, so do the amount of delivery scams. These are usually sent to you via text message. The most common delivery scam messages disguise themselves as the DHL shipping company or Amazon. The messages are sent with the aim to retrieve your personal or financial information or with a link the scammers want you to open. It’s important to remember that Australia Post and every legitimate courier company will not ask you to enter these details. So instead of clicking on the link sent from scammers, make sure you check your inbox or download the delivery company’s app to track your parcel. Any links with spelling mistakes or five to nine letters and numbers at the end and placed randomly should be deleted.

PHONE & TEXT MESSAGE SCAMS

Scammers tend to imitate reliable organisations like the ATO (Australian Taxation Office) to appear trustworthy. A common way they will do this is through scam phone calls or text messages. They initiate the scam by either calling or SMS messaging you asking for private and sensitive information about you, this includes your address, date of birth, any financial details. A common scam at present is that scammers will pretend to be from a legitimate law enforcement organisation and threaten you with immediate arrest. This is merely to cause you to panic, so that you stop thinking clearly and appear vulnerable. They will usually demand that you pay or if you hang up you will be arrested, however do not fall for this one, as any trusted organisation would never demand payment immediately. Scammers will also leave you voicemails asking you to call them back. Legitimate organisations will leave a voice message or text but will never leave a pre-recorded messages, so don’t be fooled. They will also target your tax file number saying that your TFN has been cancelled due to money laundering. They will ask you to transfer money to them or face criminal charges.

Scammers will commonly ask you to make payments via iTunes, Google Play or other vouchers due to them being an untraceable form of money transferal. Reliable organisations will never request payment via these forms. Offshore wire transfer is also another payment avenue scammers use to trick their victims; debts will never be asked to be paid this way by real organisations.

EMAILS & SOCIAL MEDIA SCAMS

Emails and social media circulated scams are some of the most common currently due to the increasing access and consumption of technology. A frequent scam via email is that they will pretend to be a certain retail company or product provider and ask for your financial details for you to receive a refund for a product. These transactions should never be done over email.

Although legitimate organisations will have their own social media accounts, they will never reach out via social media for payments or personal information from you. If you receive an email or

social media message asking you to log in to the ATO or another important platform, don’t trust it as sometimes scammers will do this as a way to gain access to your login. The ATO and other reliable organisations will never ask you to log in this way, always navigate to their website to log in.

A very prevalent scam in our digital age is that scammers will create a fake social media account impersonating someone you follow on social media, for example a small business or business person, and then ask you to participate in a giveaway or challenge in which you can win a prize.

They do this to get your financial and personal details, so it’s important to double check that it’s a real account and that the giveaway or challenge is in fact legitimate. Scammers will usually do this via Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

HOLIDAY SCAMS HAPPENING NOW

Superannuation scam - Scammers have recently been calling or texting people asking them to invest in a highly performing self-managed super fund. Sometimes they will go by the name ‘Australian Financial Service Licence’ to trick people into thinking they are a reliable service. This is completely fake and is in no way associated with the ATO or ASIC. They are being very persistent, calling people multiple times, but don’t give in to this scam.

Fake tax debt scam - Scammers have recently been calling people imitating the ATO and asking them to pay immediate tax debts over the phone. Signs that you’re falling victim to this scam is they will leave a pre-recorded message, use No Caller ID and threaten you with immediate arrest.

As scammers are cunning, they can be very convincing, especially at this busy time of the year when we’re in a rush to wrap up work and get prepared for the break. But by following these helpful tips, you should have a better understanding of how you can avoid becoming scammed. For more information and to protect yourself from scammers this holiday season check the ACMA, ATO, and Scamwatch websites for more.