As part of its ongoing strategy to communicate information in ways that are accessible to all Australians, the ACCC released a new publication, Consumer Information in your language: How the ACCC can help you, which contains information about our role and how we can assist consumers. The publication is aimed at consumers from non–English speaking backgrounds.
It provides information in 15 different languages—Arabic, Croatian, Dinka, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Macedonian, Persian, Serbian, Spanish, Chinese, Turkish and Vietnamese.
ACCC warns consumers about bogus ‘free’ holiday telemarketing offers
Free luxury holidays to Cancun, the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, Orlando and Daytona Beach? Sound too good to be true?
'Consumers receiving telemarketing calls promising a "free" holiday should just hang up,' ACCC Deputy Chair Mr Peter Kell warned. 'It's the time of year when these sorts of offers can sound very attractive, but they could well be too good to be true.'
Typically, a pre-recorded voice message instructs the recipient to dial either one or nine, to claim the 'prize'. If a consumer complies, he or she is connected to a 'travel consultant' who will then 'sell' the holiday package.
Consumers have to pay charges for taxes and other fees to claim the 'free' holiday. Commonly credit card payment is required and a recipient's personal information (such as date of birth and credit card numbers) are requested by the consultation to ‘verify’ credit card details.
'Under no circumstances should consumers provide personal information, including credit card details, to people they don't know and trust. They risk having their identity and money stolen,' Kell said.
The ACCC offers the following advice to consumers:
hang up if you receive telemarketing calls promising 'free' holidays, gifts or prizes
be wary of any offer that sounds too good to be true, including holiday offers
avoid the temptation to dial on to get more details—the marketers are trained to hook people in
if you do talk to sales staff, resist pressure to sign up—especially if staff claim that the 'great deal' is only available for a limited time
be very careful when providing personal details, including credit card details, to anyone over the telephone or online—you should not provide any information to people you don't know and trust
if you have sent money, contact your bank straight away and cancel the card or request a chargeback
arrange holidays through reputable travel agents or holiday operators based in Australia.
Visit the SCAMwatch website (www.scamwatch.gov.au) for more information and advice on how to avoid being scammed or to report a scam.
ACCC consultative committees meet
November saw the ACCC host meetings of its Health Sector Consultative Committee and Small Business Advisory Group. These consultative mechanisms enable the ACCC to hear about the trade practices issues affecting health sector participants and small business, and to provide those groups with information on recent ACCC activity, changes to the Trade Practices Act and any other concerns.
The Health Sector Consultative Committee discussed the ACCC authorisation process, issues regarding credentialling and certification processes, advertising practices and amendments to the Trade Practices Act. Legislative amendments were also discussed at the Small Business Advisory Group meeting, along with collective bargaining, unconscionable conduct, industry codes of conduct and ACCC enforcement actions.
