Beware opening a scammer's con this Christmas
The ACCC is warning the community to be wary of scammers trying to ruin their
Christmas holidays.
“Scammers often try to take advantage of people during the busy Christmas
period and prey on our vulnerabilities at this time of year. For example, they
may take advantage of you looking for a good deal on a family holiday,
searching for a loved one’s present at an online store, or even that you’re
expecting a present from someone through the post.”
Watch out for three common holiday season scams:
Travel scams: scammers trick their victims into believing they’ve won a travel
prize or scored a really good deal on a travel package, like a cruise.
Unfortunately these seemingly too-good-to-be-true holidays are nothing more
than a scammer’s con. In the past 12 months, nearly $86,000 has been lost to
this scam, with about 1750 reports.
Online shopping scams: scammers will set up believable looking online stores to
trick people into goods that don’t really exist. They might also set up fake
online classified or auction site listings. They entice people with legitimate
looking discounts and may even advertise items as the perfect Christmas present
for a loved one. This scam has cost Australians more than $1.3 million in the
past 12 months, with more than 6440 reports.
Parcel delivery scams: with millions of packages moving across the country to
get under a Christmas tree in time, scammers will send fake ‘missed delivery’
notices to potential victims. These scams are aimed at getting people to
download malware or ransomware onto their PCs, which can be costly to remove;
or steal their personal information. Scamwatch has received about 1700 reports
of this scam in the past 12 months.
“Your personal information is often just as valuable to a scammer as your money
so always be careful about the information you give out online,” Ms Rickard
said.
“There are some simple tips you can follow to stay ahead of scammers these
holidays.”
“If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Do your research on any
online stores you’re using, especially if it’s for the first time. Never do a
deal or make a payment outside the online auction site you are using. If you
are buying from a classified website only hand over the money when you have
physically inspected the goods. Finally, never open attachments or download
files you receive out of the blue—no matter who the email comes from or how
legitimate it looks,” Ms Rickard said.
Further information about holiday season scams is available at
www.scamwatch.gov.au.