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The ACCC Scamwatch has warned about scammers being capable of faking phone calls and messages, leading to challenges in differentiating between genuine and fake communication.
There is always a risk that a scammer is impersonating a bank upon receiving a call from an individual claiming to be from a bank’s fraud team. Scammers can use “spoofing” to appear like a bank’s legitimate phone number.
Spoofing is a type of scam where a criminal tries to gain someone’s trust by using the name of a well-known and trusted company, such as Amazon or PayPal, by tricking individuals into taking action or revealing personal or financial information, which can lead to fraud, identity theft, and infected computers.
According to Scamwatch, a national government agency, they received 14,331 reports of scam attempts in February this year, resulting in losses of $4.6 million and still counting. Text messages were the primary method used in 58 per cent of the incidents, with email accounting for 22.2 per cent.
Catriona Lowe, Deputy of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has highlighted the severe effects of spoofing scams, saying that a man became a victim of a fraud, losing more than $500,000 after a fraudulent caller claimed to be from a major bank’s security department and enquired about a payment authorization.
“We are incredibly concerned about bank impersonation scams because they can be so convincing, they are very hard to detect,” Lowe said.
The ACCC’s Scamwatch collaborates with other government agencies, law enforcement, and the private sector to share information, disrupt scams, advocate for consumers, and raise awareness in the community.
Individuals who are experiencing cybercrime are advised to notify their bank. It is possible to file a report anonymously to Scamwatch, regardless of whether or not they have suffered financial loss. Additionally, reporting to the authorities through ReportCyber is also recommended.
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