About Impersonation Scams
The scammers pretend to be from the police, government, tech support (like Microsoft or Apple), or impersonate a bank, then likely say that you owe money or are/will be in trouble unless you pay money immediately.
The scammers will contact their victims through via phone calls or text messages.
The scammers will trick people into giving sensitive and personal information, usually by convincing someone to click on a link, provide personal information over a phone call, or trick them into paying money directly to the scammer.
The scammers will ask people to make immediate payments, often using methods that cannot be tracked, like gift cards, wire transfers, or cryptocurrency. They might also try to steal personal information by asking people for it directly, as the victims believe they are speaking to someone trusted.
Red Flags
Red flags to look out for when identifying scammers.
Urgency
Scammers will often create a lot of pressure to act fast, threatening serious things like getting arrested if you fail to pay a fine, or you may owe money to get a utilities bill or taxes sorted.
Too good to be true
Often pretending you have won a prize. If it seems to good to be true it probably is.
Suspicious links or attachments
Things like text messages and emails containing links to websites that will ask for your personal information, or having a file attached containing a virus or malware.
Steps to Recovery
Contact your bank
You should immediately contact your bank and report that you have been scammed and ask them to stop all transactions.
Get help
If you have been scammed you will need help on how to proceed, you can contact IDCARE or call them at 1800 595 160.
Report to ScamWatch
If you have been scammed you should report the scam to ScamWatch, they will try to stop the scam protecting other possible victims.
Defend from follow up scams
1 in 3 victims of scams have been scammed more than once, you should look out for other scams, like someone offering to help you get your money back.
Hot Tips to avoid being scammed
Unsure?
Its best to not follow through if your unsure, never give personal information to strangers.
Too good to be true
Scammers try to lure you in with good to be true things, like ads.
Making you feel pressured
Scammers make sure you have no time to think so they rush you by threatening you.