Phishing scams

'Phishing' refers to scams that are designed to trick you into providing your personal and banking information.

Phishing emails may appear to be from your bank, a government organisation or other financial institution urging you to click on a link to update your personal profile, or 'validate' or 'confirm' your personal details. A phishing caller may claim to be from your bank, phone company or another business.

How to recognise a phishing scam

Genuine banks and organisations will NOT contact you by email to request confidential and personal information.
If a bank or organisation sends you a genuine request for some information, they should address you by name and not refer to you as 'account holder' or 'customer'.
An email from a genuine bank or organisation is unlikely to have spelling or grammatical errors—many scammers make silly mistakes.

How to respond if you suspect it’s a phishing scam

Delete the suspicious message or hang up your phone.
Do not click on any links in a spam email or open any files attached to them.
Even if the email or message urges you to act quickly, do not panic—this is just a trick to make you respond immediately without giving you a chance to talk to others or to check if it is a scam.
If you think a call or message might be genuine, do not give your details until you have made some extra checks to satisfy yourself that it is not a scam.
Ring your bank or the company yourself to find out if it is a genuine message but never use the number provided in the email or message—a scammer will not give you the correct number!

Guard against scams

Only give out your personal details and information, including your mobile phone number, when it is absolutely necessary, where you have initiated the contact and you trust the other party.
Don’t post your mobile phone number on social networking sites—you don’t know who could see it.
Never enter your personal, credit card or online account information on a website that you are not certain is genuine.
Never send your personal, credit card or online account details by email.
Do not use software on your computer that auto-completes online forms. This can give internet scammers easy access to your personal and credit card details.
Choose passwords that are difficult for anyone else to guess.

How to reduce the damage if you think you have fallen for a scam

Report the scam

You should telephone your bank or financial institution if you are suspicious of an email, letter or phone call that claims to be from them, or if you think someone may have access to your accounts. They can advise you on what to do next.

Protect your phone

If you were using your phone when you got scammed, it is possible that a virus of other malicious software may have infected your phone. Run a full system check using reliable security software. If you do not have security software (such as virus scanners and a firewall) installed on your phone, a computer professional can help you choose what you need.

Change your passwords

Scammers may have also gained access to your online passwords. Change your passwords using a secure computer.

Stay one step ahead of the scammers

Visit our SCAMwatch website to learn more about phishing scams and other scams that target you or your small business. You can also find out more about how scams work and how to protect yourself, and you can report scams to us and other government agencies via SCAMwatch.

Mobile phone viruses

As phones become more like computers, they are also vulnerable to viruses and other malicious software (malware). Some simple precautions could save you many problems:

Check with the manufacturer to see if any anti-virus software is available for your phone.
Do not click on any links in a spam email or open any files attached to them.

Mobile phone spam

Spam is the term used for any commercial messages you receive on your phone or computer that you didn’t ask for. In Australia, it is illegal for a business to send spam email or SMS.

If you receive a spam message on your phone, you should:

Report it to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). They can investigate and take action against the business that sent the message
Keep the message—ACMA will need the details to look into your complaint.

Unwanted telemarketing calls

To reduce your chances of receiving unwanted telemarketing calls:

Be cautious about giving out your phone number. When filling out any form for a business that asks you for you number, check that you’re not agreeing to receive extra promotional material or giving permission for your details to be passed on to other businesses to use for marketing.
Enter your mobile phone number on the Do Not Call Register. Once you’ve put your number on the register, it is illegal for any company to contact you with commercial messages.

Shopping online with your mobile phone

See the online shopping section of our website for tips to have a safe and hassle-free experience shopping online.

Security and your mobile phone