Scams

The ACCC is warning people to stay alert to ‘phishing’ scammers pretending to be from well-known businesses and government departments trying to con unsuspecting victims out of their personal information and money.

So far in 2017, the ACCC’s Scamwatch has received more than 11,000 reports of this scam, with nearly $260,000 lost.

Nearly 6000 businesses reported being targeted by scams in 2016 according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Targeting Scams report, with losses totalling around $3.8 million, an increase of almost 31 per cent.

The highest losses were to computer hacking, fake investment schemes and buying and selling scams, according to reports made to Scamwatch over the past year.

The number of people reporting scam activity in Australia was at record levels in 2016 according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s annual Targeting Scams report, with a 47 per cent increase in scam reports to the ACCC compared to 2015.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is warning people to watch out for dodgy internet pop-up windows claiming there are viruses or other seemingly nasty tech problems affecting their computer.

Known as remote access scams, these pop-up windows are used as a ploy to get unsuspecting victims to call a fake support line – usually a 1800 number. The scammer will then ask for remote access to their victim’s computer to ‘find out what the problem is’.