Scam Awareness

Stay informed about recent scams to protect yourself.

Scam messages sound urgent to get you to act quickly. They often have a link which will take you to a scam website. Scammers can steal any personal information entered on these scam websites and use it to take your money or commit fraud in your name.

To make these message look real, scammers spoof (copy) the phone number and sender ID of businesses or people you know. Scam messages can even appear in the same message chain as real messages from the organisation, making them even harder to spot.

Text or SMS Scams

Phone Scams

1 in 3 reported scams happen by phone. Scammers call, claiming to be from well-known organisations. This includes government organisations, law enforcement, investment and law firms, banks, telecommunication providers.

They make it sound urgent to get to you act quickly. They may try to convince you to give them your personal or bank account details, or remote access to your computer. The caller may already have some details about you, such as your name or address.

Email Scams

These emails may look like the real thing but are malicious. Once clicked, you may be sent to a dodgy website which could download viruses onto your computer, or steal your passwords.

These emails might be from a company you don’t normally receive communications from, or someone you do not know. You may just have a hunch. If you are suspicious, you should report it.

Your report of a phishing email will help us to act quickly, protecting many more people from being affected.

Scammers set up fake profiles on social media, messaging platforms and apps. They pretend to be from the government, a real business, employer, investment firm, or even a friend, family member or romantic interest. They may use the same logo of the real organisation or photo of the person they are pretending to be to make the scam harder to spot. create fake identities to befriend you and win your trust. Scammers can also learn a lot about you from details you share on your social media accounts. They create quizzes or posts designed to deceive you into sharing personal information. They use this information to guess your account passwords or target you with other scams.

Some common social media scams include.

Fake friends or profiles, Free app downloads, Quizzes, Hidden URLs, Investment scams, Romance scams, Impersonator accounts, Lottery, sweepstakes or giveaway scams.

Social Media Scams