Scams Awareness Week

Text: Last year 481,000 scams were reported in Australia. Behind every report is a real person.

Nikita: You'll be surprised, but last year Australians like me have been scammed for over $139 million just through romance scams.

Susanne: Australians lost $97 million through these phishing scams.

Mannu: $166 million were scammed through redirection scams.

Nikita: I was going through a lot of stress in my personal life at that point and that's when you do the things that you shouldn't do.

Lindy: And then as soon as I hung up the phone I just I just knew, like my heart sank.

Susanne: In total was just under $26,000.

Nikita: In that one day I did that transaction I lost all confidence in myself.

Mannu: It's a shocking feeling because it's your hard earned money.

Lindy: You know. I guess their tactic is that they rush you through it and and make you panic. Like that's their tactic.

Nikita: He scammed me. He took all that money and I was in tears.

Susanne: Unless you're 100% sure who it's coming from, don't engage with the text at all.

Mannu: Check the links properly and see if it's been coming from a right source.

Lindy: I would just say to people, please just pause.

Nikita: Listen to yourself. Listen to your sixth sense.

Lindy: It can happen to anybody. Don't think it won't happen to you because it can.

Text: No one's just a number. Stop. Check. Protect. Scams Awareness Week 24 to 28 August.

[End of transcript]

Text: Last year, over 274,000 Australians were scammed.

Lindy: I got a notification on my phone and I opened it and it said, "Your purchase for this laptop has been successful and I just panicked straight away and there was a number on there saying if you didn't order this, call this number."

And they answered and said, 'Hello, PayPal.'

So, I thought I was speaking to PayPal.

And they said, 'Okay, we need to like close down your account just to stop these transactions going through and we're going to send you a code.'

And then it was one of those numbers that come up that say do not share this number and I shared the number. You know, I guess their tactic is that they rush you through it and and make you panic. Like that's their tactic.

And you know, the state of mind I was in, I just kept going along with it. And then as soon as I hung up the phone, I just, I just knew, like my heart sank.

I lost a lot of my money and you know, it put me into debt. And I would just say to people, please just pause.

Text: No one's just a number. Stop. Check. Protect. Scams Awareness Week 24 to 28 August.

[End of transcript]

Text: Last year, over 274,000 Australians were scammed.

Mannu: So when I bought this house, I thought of building a granny flat development. So we probably zeroed down on this builder, we struck a deal with him and then he said, 'You have to pay a deposit to start work like $20,000 we have to pay.'

Then I got a link and when I clicked it, it looked exactly how it should be. But then when I clicked on it and I paid, the money disappeared because looks like to me the link was hijacked.

It's a shocking feeling because it's your hard earned money has gone out of your pocket straight away because to save that $20,000 it takes hell lot of time.

So the different thing is you can be a bit more cautious, think of alternative payments. somebody sends me a link, try to see if there's a legit website. Try and get more information from the bank, but don't call that number. Just call your bank directly and ask.

Text: No one's just a number. Stop. Check. Protect. Scams Awareness Week 24 to 28 August.

[End of transcript]

Text: Last year, over 274,000 Australians were scammed.

Nikita: There was that one time when I got this friend request from a guy. The profile said he was a British pilot. He had photos of himself in the cockpit and it looked very realistic.

And at one point after 4 to 5 weeks of having a conversation, he said to me that 'my son met an accident yesterday. You know, he's in hospital and I'm just all over the place. I don't know what to do. I don't have any liquid cash. Can you help me? I'll pay you back.'

I tried to brush him off, but then he started crying and I was taken aback and that $5,000 was a lot. I can still feel like I'm still there.

I was standing in front of the mirror and I was looking at myself. Should I do it? Should I not? But then I said, 'Nah, just do it. Maybe you could save someone's life.'

And the next day, the money he received the funds. And after that, my numbers were blocked. He scammed me. He took all that money. I made a big hole in my wallet and I was in tears.

I never thought it would happen to me, but it can happen to anyone.

Text: No one's just a number. Stop. Check. Protect. Scams Awareness Week 24 to 28 August.

[End of transcript]

Text: Last year, over 274,000 Australians were scammed.

Susanne: The message from my supposed daughter was that her phone had broken, her bank account was frozen, and she had to pay some people and it had to be done today.

At the time, my daughter was hosting a wellness retreat. So, yeah, I just assumed that she hadn't paid at all. That's what I was doing, paying for this retreat.

Each message became more and more urgent, that had to be paid, had to be paid. In total, it was just under $26,000.

When I finally got onto her and asked her where my money was, that's when I realized that no, I've been scammed because she goes, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

And I swore a lot. I swore a hell of a lot. Unless you're 100% sure who it's coming from, don't engage with the text at all.

I never thought it would happen to me, but it can happen to anybody.

Text: No one's just a number. Stop. Check. Protect. Scams Awareness Week 24 to 28 August.

[End of transcript]