Over the years we have seen a steady and constant rise in financial scams and fraud. We have always communicated warnings and information to you through our newsletters and via our website on the various scams. These types of scams become more prevalent during the holiday seasons, during natural disasters such as the recent floods, and were constant through the Covid-19 pandemic.
Scamwatch has published data that suggests $257 million was lost to scams in the first five months of 2022 alone, with investment scams, romance scams, remote access scams, and false billing scams topping the list in terms of monetary loss.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) also notes that scams can come through many communication channels, including emails, text messages, phone calls or even through social media platforms.
It can be hard to spot scams as the scammers can be quite sophisticated in replicating legitimate companies' communication channels. However the ACSC provides some helpful advice on recognising and reporting scams by following two very important steps:
Step 1: Check if it is a scam
You can do this by checking the official website of the company or call their official phone number.
ACSC advise not to use any of the links or contact details that were in the email, text message, or phone call you received.
Step 2: If you still suspect it is a scam
Do not click on any links, open any attachments, or reply to the message.
If you want to read about current scams or report any scams, you can through Scamwatch.
If you think you have been scammed and have concerns about your G&C Mutual Bank account contact us on 1300 364 400.
ACSC provides a lot of useful information that may help you spot if you are being scammed. Read more here.
We also provide some information and security tips to help you bank safely and securely. Read more here.
G&C's Fraud Team always here to help
G&C's Fraud Team are also constantly monitoring for card fraud and scams in order to protect your accounts and transactions. We may contact you directly if a transaction alerts us through our fraud systems but rest assured we are doing this to protect your funds and ensure that your accounts are not compromised. We have systems and processes that assist us in monitoring known fraudulent activity and ensure that we are vigilant when it comes to monitoring your transactions. It is extremely important that you keep your contact details with us up to date so we can contact you when and if we need to.
We recently received wonderful compliments from members whose transactions were monitored and potential losses were prevented by our monitoring and action. We continue to work hard to help protect your accounts and ask that you let us know straight away if you feel that your account has been compromised or if a transaction just doesn't look right. Working together we can prevent these types of scams and fraud.
In addition, tax time is upon us so it is even more important to be careful and stay alert for any scammers seeking urgent payments, or people impersonating the ATO. Also, as there is a lot of uncertainty and the constant talk about cost of living pressures, there are investment scams currently about, so be cautious of anyone telling you of ‘once in a lifetime’ money making schemes...they are probably a scam and should be avoided.
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