How to Avoid the Top 3 Most Common Scams
Since Covid has pushed many Australian businesses into working remotely, the Australian government has seen a tremendous rise in malicious scams targeting individuals and businesses alike. Unfortunately, spending more time at home and on the computer, and away from colleagues, has left many Australians vulnerable to scammers.
To help you avoid following the same fate, we’ve compiled the three most common scams that our own clients have successfully avoided. Plus, how you can stay safe if one of these scams comes knocking.
#1 Texting And Email Phishing
What Is It?
“Phishing” is a term used by scammers to describe the act of sending out malicious links embedded in mass communication, such as emails or sms texts. This link will typically lead to a fraudulent website or landing page masquerading as legitimate, and prompt you to enter in your personal and credit card details.
The actual message prompting you to click the link may vary, but will usually employ a sense of urgency to get you to click it. This could in the form of telling you a package has been delivered, a subscription is about to be canceled, or you’ve won a prize, to name a few.
How To Protect Yourself
- Don’t click any links from people you don’t know!
- Any legitimate website that asks for your details should display a green lock to the left of its URL bar.
- Re-read the content of the message and ask if it applies to you, or if the English is somewhat broken or suspicious.
- A genuine website link should also clearly state the website name.
- Only click links from people you 100% know.
- Check the Australian Government’s anti-phishing protocols.
#2 Impersonation Of An Official
What Is It?
Online scammers are infamous for impersonating officials from legitimate, well-known businesses in order to steal your financial details. A scammer may send you an email claiming they work for your bank, your accountant, one of your streaming services (Netflix or Spotify), Amazon, Ebay or the like. Unfortunately, they will also use an email address similar to what an official would use – it can be quite hard to tell the difference.
The impersonator will typically ask you to hand over your account details or credit card number, in order to resolve a non-existent issue with your account.
How To Protect Yourself
Officials from financial and/or the government will never send you a link requesting your personal details. Nor will employees or tech support email you asking for financial/credit card details. If someone – no matter how legitimate they sound – is asking for this, then it may be a red flag.
If you are suspicious someone may be an impersonator, reach out to the business they are representing and ask if they’ve tried to contact you. Double check the email address of the sender. Impersonators will sometimes change a character or letter to appear genuine: I.E. “tech.support” instead of “techsupport”
You can also keep up to date with the latest scam notices from the Australian Goverment’s Scamwatch.
#3 Warning! Don’t Share Personal Details On Social Media
What Is It?
But being on social media is all about being…well…social, right? Well, the good news is: as long as you’re limiting who can see your account, then you can be as social as you want on Facebook and Instagram. The bad news? If you haven’t checked who can view your account in a while, then you may be at risk.
Scammers will target people on social media who haven’t set their account settings to private: this means if you’re not friends with someone on Facebook, then they can’t see anything you post. But if your settings are public, then a scammer could trawl your post history to find things such as your pet’s name, car model, or mother’s maiden name – all things that are commonly used as security questions.
How To Protect Yourself
Simply go into your Facebook account privacy settings and choose to only let your friends be able to view your account and send you messages. Here is an excellent walkthrough.
Additionally, do not accept friend requests from people you do not know, accounts who have zero friends, or open messages requests that sound suspicious.
Follow These Surefire Ways To Keep Yourself Safe!
- Ensure you are using multiple passwords for all your online accounts. This will mitigate risk if one of your passwords is compromised.
- Two-Factor Authenticators are a great way to secure financial accounts. The authenticator will provide you with a code that you will need to use with your password. It is almost impossible for scammers to acquire this.
- Check Australian Government sites like Scamwatch or Cybergov to stay up to date with the latest scams that may affect your business
- Ask a friend or colleague if you think an email or text looks suspicious, Often, a second set of eyes will see something you don’t.
- Remember: no official will ever ask for your details. Always reach out to the company in question to double check if they need your details.
If you’re looking for further ways to practice financial security, then The A Firm is ready to help; our financial experts can advise you on the safest practices to keep your business safe. We’re even offering a free strategy call with our director to advise our clients on the fastest way to grow your income while remaining safe from scams. Book yours here!