Scams

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Ticket scalping will be illegal in Western Australia after legislation introduced by the McGowan Government passed State Parliament, delivering on an election commitment. This is an announcement from the Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. It was originally published on 8th September, 2021. The tough new measures will be in place…

Read More Just the ticket – tough new laws to stamp out scalping

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Last year scammers stole close to $34 million collectively from people who identified as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), people with disability, and Indigenous Australians. This is an Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) media release, originally published on 10th June, 2021. Figures from the ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams report released earlier this week shows losses to the…

Read More Culturally and linguistically diverse community lose $22 million to scams in 2020, reports from Indigenous Australians up by 25 per cent

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Australians lost over $851 million to scams in 2020, a record amount, as scammers took advantage of the pandemic to con unsuspecting people, according to the ACCC’s latest Targeting Scams report released today. The report compiles data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, other government agencies and 10 banks and financial intermediaries, and is based on more than 444,000 reports.…

Read More Scammers capitalise on pandemic as Australians lose record $851 million to scams

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Australians have already lost over $288,000 to vehicle scams in the first quarter of this year, more than all losses reported to Scamwatch in 2019, and scammers have now begun impersonating defence personnel to con their victims. This is an ACCC media release, originally published on 27th April, 2021. In a vehicle scam, scammers post fake…

Read More Losses to car ad scams climbing

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has today registered new rules that require telcos to detect, trace and block scam calls. The Reducing Scam Calls Code, developed by the telco industry, was a direct recommendation of the ACMA’s Combating Scams Action Plan. This is an ACMA Media Release The ACMA has worked closely with telcos and peak…

Read More New rules to detect, trace and block scam calls

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Queensland’s Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is advising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consumers to protect themselves after it was revealed they had lost millions of dollars to scammers. Fair Trading Executive Director Brian Bauer said Indigenous Australians last year reported more than 2,700 scams resulting in $2.1 million in losses, and that figure was…

Read More Indigenous Australians lose millions to scammers

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The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, as one of the agencies responsible for the National Indigenous Consumer Strategy (NICS), urges Indigenous consumers to be wary of scams, including anyone calling them out of the blue asking for personal details or offering investment opportunities. As part of National Scams Awareness Week, which began on 17 August…

Read More ASIC warns Indigenous consumers about scams

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The ACCC has launched a podcast series for this year’s National Scams Awareness Week to provide Australians with tips on how to protect their personal and financial details from scammers. The five-episode podcast series, ‘This Is Not Your Life’, is produced by Julian Morrow, the creator of ABC TV’s consumer series The Checkout. The podcast,…

Read More National Scams Awareness Week: ‘This Is Not Your Life’

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The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) today launched the next phase of its action plan to combat scams, unveiling a suite of new resources designed to help Australians protect themselves on their home and mobile phones from scams. Chair of the ACMA’s Scam Taskforce Fiona Cameron said scammers are using the COVID-19 pandemic to take advantage of…

Read More ACMA moves to protect Australians from phone scams

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ASIC has seen a rise in the number of investment scam reports from Australian consumers and investors during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Reports of misconduct received by ASIC from March to May 2020 are up 20% compared to the same period last year. ASIC Executive Director for Assessment and Intelligence Warren Day said economic uncertainty…

Read More Rise in investment scams during COVID-19 pandemic