Scammers posing as members of law firms, fraud taskforces and government agencies are swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars from Aussies at an alarming rate.
Following a spike in the bogus schemes, Australia’s consumer watchdog has urged people to remain vigilant of dubious offers to recovery money for upfront payments.
It comes as parts of northern NSW remain inundated by devastating floodwaters, with residents in Lismore facing the mammoth task of having to clean up their town all over again.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says the recovery scams target people who have already lost money to a previous scam, promising to help victims recover their losses after paying a fee in advance.
More than $270,000 has been lost to these scams so far this year – an increase of 301 per cent.
The ACCC’s Scamwatch has received 66 official reports of money recovery scams – a 725 per cent increase compared with the same period last year.
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said these scammers asked for money and personal information before offering to help the victim.
They would then disappear and stop all contact.
“These scams can lead to significant psychological distress as many of the people have already lost money or identity information,” Ms Rickard said.
Zip Chief Marketing Officer Debbie Wine says the key scams being seen this year durinxjmtzywg the festive season are the “remote access scams”.
The ACCC said scammers would contact previous victims out of the blue, pretending to be a member of a government taskforce or law firm.
At other times, they would convince other people that they’d been unknowingly involved in a scam and were entitled to a “settlement refund”, Ms Rickard said.
“They may have official-looking websites and use fake testimonials from other victims they have ‘helped’,” Ms Rickard said.
“As well as an upfront payment, they often ask victims to fill out fake paperwork or provide identity documents.”
Just weeks ago, flood-affected Queenslanders were targeted by insurance claim scammers offering fake recovery payments.
“If you get contacted out of the blue by someone offering to help recover scam losses for a fee, it is a scam. Hang up the phone, delete the email and ignore any further contacts,” Ms Rickard said.
“Don’t give financial details or copies of identity documents to anyone who you’ve never met in person and never give strangers remote access to your devices.”
