Public urged to be wary of phone, text scams

Australians have lost on average $41 million per month in scams in the first six months of 2022.

Phone calls and text messages are the most common method used by scammers. Phone calls accounted for 50 per cent of all scams, while text messages accounted for 23 per cent.

Scammers are finding new and smarter ways to steal people’s hard-earned money, so it can be difficult to know if a call is a scam or not, and it’s causing financial devastation and emotional harm to individuals, families and businesses.

Over 660 million scam calls have been blocked since the new rules requiring telcos to detect, trace and block scam calls were introduced in December 2020. New Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) data shows telcos blocked 110 million scam calls in April to June 2022 alone.

Despite these promising signs, some scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated to trap people and avoid detection.

Crime Stoppers is working in collaboration with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Australian Taxation Office to help raise awareness of these scams and prevent them where possible.

The new campaign leads with ‘consequence’ as a motivation and targets phone call and text scams warning Australians to ‘Say bye bye or kiss your cash goodbye’ and ‘think before you click’.

“Scammers use a sense of urgency to get you to act quickly and without thinking it through. This kind of tactic should be a red flag. The
longer someone is on the phone with the scammer, the more information they extract. We strongly encourage people to say goodbye and hang up. Hanging up may be the difference between being scammed or keeping your cash,” Crime Stoppers NSW CEO Peter Price AM, said.

“Scammers are also using text messaging to gain access to personal information, passwords, and credit card details. If you receive a text message from an unknown number or entity, take the time to think before you click. Check if it looks legitimate, and if it doesn’t, delete it,” added Mr Price.

The ATO is seeing an increase in SMS scams this tax time, with many using the lure of a tax refund to trick people into clicking on a link.

Importantly, share your knowledge with family and friends if you are aware of a scam. Awareness can help others avoid becoming a victim to scams.