BE AWARE & STAY SAFE!
Aussies lost a staggering $455 million to scams in 2023. The top 10 based on losses included dating and romance, investment, identity theft and phishing scams. While cyber criminals don’t discriminate, there are certain types of scams targeted at women.
Although scammers may change tactics, best practices remain consistent. To stay safe, always keep these tips from Jane Ng, ESET’S head of marketing of the Asia Pacific, in mind:
• Be sceptical: if an offer seems too good to be true, it probably is.
• Be wary of unsolicited contact. Don’t respond directly or immediately; instead, verify the sender’s legitimacy separately.
• Never share personal information over the phone.
• Don’t trust Caller ID entirely as it can be faked.
• Use multi-factor authentication to protect your accounts and devices.
• Never send money via wire transfer, payment apps, gift cards or cryptocurrency to anyone you don’t know in person. This is because there’s no way of requesting it back in the event of fraud.
• Don’t click on links or open attachments in unsolicited emails or messages – this is how many scammers gain access to your devices. Official government agencies and organisations will usually require you to log in to your account to perform a task, rather than include a clickable link.
• If you suspect you’ve been scammed, reset your passwords on all devices, then contact the police and your bank if financial details are involved.
• Report cybercrime activity to the Australian Cyber Security Hotline 1300 292 371 and scams to scamwatch.gov.au