Scams target you! Protect your money

ASIC today issued a warning to remind consumers about the increasingly innovative techniques scammers use to lure unsuspecting victims into handing over their hard earned money. ASIC’s executive director of consumer protection Greg Tanzer offered the following key tips on avoiding scams: • Never respond to an email asking for your PINs or passwords. Genuine banks and credit unions will never send you an email asking for personal security details like your internet banking password or PIN. • Never send money to someone you don’t know or trust. Be wary of emails and telephone calls from people you don’t know. Do not send money to collect winnings from lotteries you never entered. Only invest with licensed financial services providers. Do a quick search of ASIC’s website to ensure that the adviser or firm holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL). If they don’t hold an AFSL they must be employed by, or authorised to represent, a business that is licensed by ASIC. Some of the most common scams from which consumers need to protect their money include: • Phishing – emails (hoax emails) or telephone calls designed to trick people into disclosing personal details such as pins and passwords. • Money transfer schemes – also known as ‘work from home opportunities’ or ‘mules’ which claim to offer consumers a commission for receiving money into their bank account and then transferring it out again. • Illegal investment schemes – there are rules around how money is raised. Illegal investment schemes include management investment schemes that are not registered with ASIC, ponzi schemes, international bond schemes and pyramid investment schemes. • Advance fee fraud – includes the famous Nigerian letter and El Gordo Lottery scams. They work by asking you to send money (often overseas) in return for greater payments/riches. • Spyware, such as keylogging – a ‘trojan horse’ program installed by an internet virus that records the user’s mouse clicks and keystrokes and transmits them via the internet to the virus creator. • Overpayment scams – the seller receives a counterfeit cashier’s cheque, corporate cheque or personal cheque from the purchaser in an amount which exceeds the amount owed; is asked to deposit the cheque and transfer the excess funds immediately back to the sender/purchaser; and, the deposited cashier’s cheque is subsequently returned as counterfeit and charged back to the seller’s account. People selling cars, motorcycles, computer gear or accommodation should be wary of these scams which defraud innocent sellers.