We need to talk about scams.
Anyone can be scammed. And everyone has a part to play in shutting down scammers.
This Scams Awareness Week, we’re encouraging all Australians to speak up, share and report scams to help others to spot, avoid and report scams, and to recover from them.
If you've identified or encountered a scam, tell someone – it could be your friends, family, colleagues, social networks, or community. When you share a scam story, you can prevent someone else from having their money or personal information stolen. By talking to each other, we can make sure no one is alone in the fight against scams.
Rod Quantock's scam story
Australian comedian Rod Quantock talks about being the victim of a bank impersonation scam and why it’s important to share his story.
I'm Rod Quantock, and for 50 years, I've been a comedian.
Well, before I was scammed, I was very familiar with the concept of scamming.
I sort of prided myself on the fact that if anybody tried to scam me, I'd be onto them like a shot.
I got a phone call from somebody saying, "We are from the bank."
Very nice man with a very nice voice.
He began by saying, "Look, your account's been compromised and what we're going to do is, we're going to shift money out of your account so the scammers can't get to it."
He gave me an account number to move out some money.
The call finished and he said, "Thank you, the money's been successfully moved."
Before he hung up, he said, "What time zone are you in?"
And that's when the penny dropped.
And I realised that I'd lost quite a lot of money.
The money that was taken, it was part of a money that we'd set aside to build an independent living unit for a child that we have with a disability.
I rang the bank in Sydney that had taken the money and said, "Well, can you stop it?"
And they said, "Well, no, we can't violate the privacy of our customers."
So I was lucky in that I'd led a life that had introduced me to people who could help me and my wife. She got onto a friend of ours who's a journalist.
The bank rang us, and the money was back in my account.
As a result of the scam, I, look, I sort of doubled down a bit on being vigilant.
So, I double and triple-check everything that comes across my threshold that has anything to do with my money.
I can't stress too strongly, that you need to know that other people have been through this and you, if you've been through it, need to tell other people it happened to you.
In sharing your story, you've made a contribution to stopping scams in the future.
[End of transcript.]
If you’ve been scammed, there’s help available.
Reaching out and talking to support services can help you understand what happened, prevent further losses and get help to recover. It also tells authorities about scammer activities so they can make it harder for scams to occur.
Your reports help the National Anti-Scam Centre to identify the scams that are causing the most harm to Australians.
We use scam reports to understand how scammers work, who they harm and who we need to work with to disrupt and stop them.