Top 5 ways to spot a scam call — how to protect yourself

Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash.

Picture this… You receive a call from someone claiming to be from your telco, bank or energy provider — they tell you that there’s a problem with your service and they’re going to reimburse you $300. They give you fake receipt numbers — it sounds plausible.

Then the helpful caller says they’ve accidentally transferred $3000 instead of $300. Under threat of losing their job, a scammer convinces you to install remote desktop software to correct the situation. You’re then asked to log in to internet banking and are promptly scammed a sum of money.

You were just one of the 378,000 people in Australia to report falling victim to a threat-based and impersonation scam in 2018. A combined $489 million was lost to this type of fraud last year, together these losses represent an increase of 44 per cent over the $340 million reported in 2017 and show that the impact of scams on the Australian public is worsening.

1. What to look out for

Some criminal organisations might give you fake account numbers or describe themselves as “technicians”. They may say there’s a fault with your account and that you need to give them access to your computer for technical support, or that your internet will soon be disconnected unless you give them remote access to your computer.

If you’re a Belong customer, you should remember that this isn’t our style. As a customer, we’ll always contact you via email or SMS before calling you if you have a technical fault. And we’ll always give you a way to get in touch with us as outlined on our website.

What we won’t do:

• We won’t call and ask for information like your bank or credit card details unless it relates to an existing account requiring payment.
• We’ll never ask you to pay outstanding bills using gift cards.
• We won’t call you repeatedly about the same offer if you have said no.
• We’ll never engage in high-pressure sales tactics, create uncertainty or unnecessary dilemmas about your services or personal information.

2. Real versus fake

Luckily there are a few easy ways to tell whether the person on the other end of the line is who they say they are.

Firstly, we’ll never call you and threaten to cancel your service or take court action if you don’t immediately make a payment or hand over your information. We’ll never make an unsolicited call and ask for remote access into your computer or demand your sensitive personal or financial information.

If you get an unexpected call from anyone who says they’re from a particular company, kindly decline the caller’s instruction, hang up and call the company on the number listed on their official website, like belong.com.au. Don’t use any contact details provided by the caller as they will likely be fake.

If something doesn’t feel right, trust your gut — take the time to stop and think about it, and if you feel uncomfortable, just hang up.

3. Stay alert

The best way to protect yourself is to stay alert to all the different kinds of scams that are out there. You can do this through the ACCC’s Scamwatch website. You can also report a scam to the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network.

Common scams usually follow these trends:

• Unsolicited calls that contain a threat, like a fine or disconnection of internet service.
• Pressure to hand over financial or personal information.
• Demand for immediate payment, generally through unusual methods like iTunes vouchers, wire transfer, or Bitcoin.
• Request for remote access to your computer to ‘fix a problem’.

4. Do’s and Don’ts

Do’s

• If you’re not sure that the person on the other end of the phone is legitimate, hang up.
• Make sure your computer is protected with up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software.
• Beware of any requests for your personal details, money or identification.
• Avoid using public computers or Wi-Fi hotspots to access online accounts, or online sites that ask you to provide personal information.

Don’ts

• Never give an unsolicited caller remote access to your computer.
• Do not click links in suspicious texts, pop-up windows or click on links or attachments in suspicious emails — delete them!
• Choose your passwords carefully — don’t use the same password for every account/profile, and don’t share your passwords with anyone.

5. What if I’ve fallen victim to a scammer?

If you’ve lost money or given a scammer your personal or financial information, there are a number of things you can do to limit the damage.

The first step is to contact your bank as soon as possible. They might be able to block a transaction or close your account to protect you from further financial loss.

The next thing to do is change your passwords. If you think one of your online accounts has been compromised, change your password right away to lock out the scammers — and check you aren’t sharing passwords across multiple accounts.

You can also contact IDCARE. The not-for-profit national identity and cyber support service can help you respond to your specific situation.

Tell your family and friends. You can help protect other people from falling victim to the same type of scam.

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