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Date Published : Wednesday, July 23, 2008
According to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, over 800,000 Australians have been the victim of a financial or identity theft scam in the last year - and the fraudsters are becoming more sophisticated. So how can you protect your money?
News.com.au states that the number of scams out there is soaring, with the ABS research showing some six million people in total were targeted over the last 12 months.
Fraud attempts come in many forms too, from the tried and tested postal and phone scams to new and increasingly professional-looking internet and email stunts, the site said.
These sometimes involve websites that are set up to bombard internet users with free offers or money-making schemes in an effort to get their credit card details.
Email scams, meanwhile, involve "phishing" where a professional-looking email purporting to be from a bank or lender asks clients to confirm their bank account details.
Louise Sylvan of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says these types of scams are popular with fraudsters because they make money if only a fraction of people respond to the millions of emails they send out.
However, she added that no bank will ever ask for your personal information via email.
Paul Vincent of Brisbane-based Vincents Chartered Accountants said there are a number of tips consumers can use to protect their hard-earned cash from the scammers.
Consumers can limit the risk of fraud by getting a credit card with a small limit for internet and daily transactions, he noted - and they should only use cards with larger limits when dealing with "trusted businesses". Furthermore, card holders should never let their plastic out of their sight during a sale.
Mr Vincent also advised destroying expired credit cards and shredding sensitive documents such as old bills and statements.
According to the Federal Police, there are 12 million credit cards in Australia.
Compare credit cards.
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