People are increasingly being caught out by celebrity endorsement scams, with reports to Scamwatch increasing 400 per cent and losses increasing a staggering 3,800 per cent so far in 2018.
Scamwatch is warning the Australian community to be wary about investment scams, with statistics revealing Australians are collectively losing $4.3 million a month to these scams.
Scammers swindled nearly $4.7 million from Australian businesses in 2017 according to the ACCC’s latest Targeting scams report – a 23 per cent increase compared to 2016.
Scamwatch is urging all Australians who lost money to a scammer through Western Union from 2004 to 2017 to take action by the extended deadline of 31 May to try to get it back.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is warning the community to be aware of phone calls from scammers pretending to be from the Department of Human Services or Centrelink.
Scamwatch is warning Australian gamblers not to part with money they didn’t plan to during Spring Racing Season, today issuing an alert that confidence tricksters are on the hunt for more victims.
Scamwatch is warning Australian consumers and small businesses to take extra care when seeking government grants and to be suspicious of unsolicited offers of money in the form of government grants.