“Congratulations
Claire, you are pre-approved for 1000$ 100% accepted?????”
The latest addition to my junk folder didn’t entice me to
reply but online scams are not always so easy to spot.
Sharon Armstrong from New Zealand was 54 years old and had
been looking for love online for a month when she found him. “I fell hard and fast. We built up what felt like a very long
relationship over a short period of time,” Sharon said in an interview on news.com.au.
For five and a
half months Sharon was groomed with more than 7000 emails and a series of tests
to determine if she could be trusted, but he always found an excuse to avoid
Skyping.
He told Sharon
he was a civil engineer and that she could be his EA. “I’ve secured this very
lucrative contract for a job. Would you be keen to travel to South America to
pick up the contract to bring it to me in London?” He asked.
Thinking she was being cautious, Sharon googled the company
and verified its authenticity. In Buenos Aires the suitcase was delivered to
her hotel.
She soon found herself in an Argentinian prison with 60-70 other
women who had been convicted of smuggling drugs. Sharon spent 2.5 years here.
Whilst the majority of us will never find ourselves in
Sharon’s situation, Australia could stand to be more sceptical.
Last year, Australians lost nearly $230 million to scams in
2015, $54 million of which was to romance fraud, according to the ACCC.
Delia Rickard, Deputy Chair of the ACCC, said
people can lose over $100,000 in life-destroying swindles, “They're very
patient, they'll spend weeks, months, we know of cases of years, romancing you,
they'll contact you every day. And when they're completely confident that
they've got your trust, your love, they will spin you a story about why they
need money.”
While I can’t help you love, I can help you avoid falling
victim to online scams. Here are five things to keep in mind the next time you
log on:
Give to charities you know
In the aftermath of disasters, charities seem to spring up
overnight. Give to established charities you are aware of.
Too good to be true? It is.
If you’re being offered thousands of dollars requiring very
little input, high-return investments, or being offered $1000 outright like my
email above, it’s probably not real. Stop kidding yourself.
Never wire money or deposit a check
Wired money is almost impossible to reverse or trace and scam
artists know this. No matter how convincing their story is, stick to your guns.
You’re responsible for the checks you deposit and, if a check is invalid,
you’re responsible for paying back the bank.
Don’t respond to pleas for funds
I was 14 years old and had just discovered the joys of
instant messaging and email. When I received an email from a young girl in Cuba
telling me about her family living in poverty, I was very concerned. It didn’t
occur to me to ask how she sent me the email in the first place. No matter how
tiny the violin is that they’re playing, be resilient and realistic.
Spot imposters
Scammers often pretend to be an organisation or individuals
you trust. At least once a week I receive an email telling me that my Paypal
account has been compromised. Don’t reply to the email, log onto the website
instead. My Paypal account has been fine 99% of the time- only once was it used
to buy an Xbox game in the US.
As we migrate to digital platforms, it becomes increasingly
necessary to be security savvy. If you’d like to learn how to ensure your data
security and risk mitigation strategies, attend Akolade’s upcoming The Future of Public
Sector of Digitisation forum.
Learn in sessions such as ‘Governments and corporate and
investigations: unravelling hidden secrets in Forensic IT’ and ‘disaster
recovery strategies’. See you there!
Claire Dowler is a
Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree:
a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies
majoring in International Communication. Claire minored in sarcasm and puns.
A ballroom-dancer who
collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might
say Claire has eclectic interests.
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