Protection From Scams And Scammers

In this episode we talk about the top scams in Australia in 2025. Did you know that $2.74 billion is stolen from Australians each year using scams?

In this episode, we cover:-

1- How to identify a scam.

2- How to protect yourself from scams and scammers.

3- What actions to take if you suspect a scammer is targeting you.

Got a question for our podcast or do you need to contact Simon and the Down Under Investigations team? Simply email info@downunderinvestigations.com or call 1300849007 or check out www.downunderinvestigations.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to this episode of Down Under Investigations of the Truth. We discuss all things to do with private investigation, process, serving , skip tracing, surveillance, debt collection, and repossessions. You'll hear about the latest news, case studies, technology, and real life stories that we know you'll enjoy and we hope you will learn from. Stay tuned as we now join Simon, the host of our podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:30

Welcome to our first podcast for 2025. So great to have you with us. It's been a great time off for us. Had a bit of a break, but we are back into things. And we are excited about though that the new year holds. For our first episode today for the year, we wanted to talk about something that really affects so many people. Did you know there's $2.74 billion lost to scams and scammers every year In Australia there is 601,000 reports. There is just so much scamming going on. The scammers keep changing their methods, their ways, and we just wanted to highlight what scams are prevalent in Australia this year and how you can keep yourself, your friends, your family, all protected. 'cause as we navigate, we find that online scams continue to evolve. They become more sophisticated and harder to detect. In Australia, the digital landscape has seen a surge in fraudulent activities with scammers employing advanced technologies and deceiving unsuspecting individuals. So we wanted to shed the light on the top online scams and the ones specifically that Australians are facing, how to spot them and effective strategies to protect yourself in the digital realm. So the top five online scams in Australia in 2025 at the moment are AI powered phishing scams. Scammers are leveraging artificial intelligence to craft highly personalized phishing emails that mimic legitimate communications. These emails often contain accurate personal details, making them convincing and increasing the likelihood of recipients divulging sensitive personal information. This information is then used by the scammer or the hacker to access bank accounts, investments, make transfers from your account to their own. So that's how the AI powered phishing scams work. Number two is quite simple because I think most of us would have a Facebook account, Facebook marketplace scams. This is when a fraudulent seller on platforms like Facebook Marketplace offer items at very attractive prices, but then they request upfront payments, either in part or in full and then disappear without the goods being delivered or a transaction fully taking place. They take off with the money. It scams like this, that prey on the trust and the eagerness of online shoppers seeking a really good deal. The third scam that's prevalent in Australia in 2025 is an impersonation scam. This is when a scammer impersonates a trusted identity like a bank or a government agency or a utility company to extract personal information and financial information from a victim. These scams involve unsolicited messages or emails, calls to request immediate action or payment. Do you ever get those text messages and it's like, you know, your Commonwealth Bank account, for example , um, is overdrawn, you need to click this link and, and put some money into the account and you're like, well, I don't have a Commonwealth Bank account then. What a joke, what a lie. You can spot a scam quite easily doing that. The fourth type we wanted to talk about was cryptocurrency investment scams. With the growing interest in digital currency, scammers promote fake cryptocurrency platforms urging quick investments, and then once they accumulate substantial funds, they vanish leaving investors with significant losses. We've seen that with the Huck tour girl. I dunno if you know about that, but she's ripped or well, someone using her identity and her image has ripped , uh, millions and millions of dollars off unsuspecting people who thought they were making a legitimate investment. The fifth one we wanted to talk about was brushing scams. This is when people have reported receiving unsolicited packages containing worthless items. It's a tactic known as brushing. You may not have heard of it, but it's used by scammers to generate fake reviews or to trick recipients into scanning malicious QR codes, including in the package. So basically a package will arrive and you'll think, oh yeah, this is legitimate. And then there'll be a little QR code on it . It'll say, oh , please scan here to confirm receipt of the package. And then through that, people will divulge their own personal information once again, thinking this is legitimate, or thinking that they're in for a , a further , um, what should I say? Another package to arrive once they fill in their details there, it's uh , it's a dodgy way that's been operating in the last year or so. But brushing scams, be aware of those.

Speaker 1: 5:17

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Speaker 2: 5:36

So how do you spot an online scam? First thing, here's the red flags unsolicited communications. Be cautious of unexpected emails, messages, or phone calls , especially when they're requesting personal information or immediate action. If you get a phone call and they're saying, oh , I need you to confirm your identity, no, you give me a number, I'll call you. And then when you get that number from them, confirm it is a legitimate number for the business or organization that you're dealing with because that's how scammers work. So the second one is too good to be true offers. That's another red flag. Deals that seem unusually favorable may be designed to lure you into a scam . Always verify the legitimacy of these office offers. You know, if it's too good to be true, you know, that's, that's what we say, it always is. Another red flag. The urgency and the pressure. When you feel there's an urgency or a pressure coming from someone who you're in contact with , uh, online, you can be quite sure that that sense of urgency is to promote you to make a hasty decision. You need to take your time and assess the situation critically. Is this legitimate? Or why is there this urgency? Suddenly, maybe you are selling something on marketplace and suddenly someone is so urgently needing that right now it's like, why would you need a a bike? You know, why would you need a watch? So urgently, always be aware of that urgency and that pressure tactic. Another red flag is suspicious links or attachments. We always say avoid clicking on any links or attachments or downloading any attachments from unknown or su suspicious sources. They may contain malware. Malware is when they basically are able to put some sort of program on your computer and they can monitor what you are doing, where you are going. They can monitor your passwords, your usernames, your email accounts. You've gotta be very careful with what you click. Another one is requests for personal or financial Information. See, legitimate organizations won't ask for that through insecure channels. A red flag is when people request or an organization request your personal or your financial information and they just want to do it over the phone or do it without it being a secure source and a secure channel. So look out for that as another red flag. And so how can we stay online and protect it in 2025? As we've always said, you strong, unique passwords, employ complex passwords for different accounts and consider using a password manager to keep track of them. There's some good secure password trackers , um, and password managers that are out there, so make sure you use those. The second one is enable two factor authentication. Adding an extra layer of security can prevent unauthorized access even if your password is compromised, you've probably had it before where it's like, oh , did you just try to sign in in, I don't know , the Philippines for example. No, I didn't. Well that some , that's two factor authentication that you've got enabled where it's warning you that someone's tried to sign into your account from a remote area and you know, straight away so you can shut it down, you can change your password , um, that sort of thing. So another way you can stay safe is keep informed of scams and trends regularly. Update yourself on the latest scams to recognize and avoid them effectively. If you're aware, if you know how scammers work these days by listening to podcasts like this, by going to websites like scamwatch.gov au, they really detail all the latest scams. You'll stay informed. Information is power information will protect you. So make sure you're regularly updated on the scams and the trends that are current. And another one, verify identities personally and independently. If you're contacted by someone claiming to be from a trusted organization, use official channels to verify their identity before responding. Get on their official website and make contact through their official website. Make sure the phone number they're calling from is their official phone number. Beware of private numbers , uh, hidden numbers, that sort of thing. Another one, be skeptical of unsolicited packages. If you receive unexpected packages, don't scan the QR codes, don't scan them. Don't visit any websites provided without verifying that there are a legitimate website. See, by staying vi vigilant and adopting these protective measures, we significantly reduce the risk of falling victim to the online scams, particularly this year. And this is only gonna increase. That's, that's the problem. Scammers do these things because they get away with it, because people fall for it. People lose billions of dollars, millions of dollars, hundreds of dollars through these scams and that's why these scammers continue to operate. So make sure you use these measures to reduce your risk of falling victim to the online scams. Remember the digital landscape, it's continually changing and evolving. So stay informed and stay in the know on how these scammers and scams are working and operating and you'll be protected.

Speaker 1: 10:52

Thanks for listening to contact us at Down Under Investigations. To work a file for you or to ask a question for our podcast or simply to make a private inquiry, please email us or go to the contact form on our website, www.downunderinvestigations.com.