Older Aussies are being warned to watch out for scammers, with more than $11 million being swindled from seniors last year.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) received 16,915 reports from older people who were scammed in 2021, with $6.7 million being lost through false billing scams – which involve victims being sent fake invoices with demands for payment – and $1.8 million through online shopping scams, including fake websites selling motorhomes.
According to NSW Minister for Fair Trading Eleni Petinos, anyone looking to scam Aussie seniors will be punished with the full force of the law.
“Targeting vulnerable Australians is abhorrent behaviour. Fair Trading has a zero-tolerance approach to any fraudsters ripping off hard-working people.
“Be wary of any requests for money. Another red flag is being asked to transfer money via an unusual payment method such as preloaded debit cards, gift cards or virtual currency,” she said.
One especially sinister tactic is money recovery scams – where perpetrators will contact scam victims and offer to recover the money they had lost for a fee. ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard says Australians have lost over $270,000 to these scams so far this year.
“Money recovery scams are particularly nasty as they target scam victims again. These scams can lead to significant psychological distress as many of the people have already lost money or identity information.
“If you get contacted out of the blue by someone offering to help recover scam losses for a fee, it is a scam. Hang up the phone, delete the email and ignore any further contacts,” Ms Rickard said.
NSW Fair Trading has prepared a guide for seniors on consumer rights and how to deal with bad actors – and if you think you may have been scammed, report it to Scamwatch immediately.
