Scamming is on the rise including in our University community and the level of sophistication means they are getting harder to detect. They prey on people’s trust, vulnerability, and stress levels
Don’t think it will never happen to me as scammers are coming up with new ways to attack every day, some of the latest risk concerns being recording your voice to get access to your private information or using AI technology
Scammers:
- Look and sound Real
- Catch you by surprise
- Come up with believable stories
- Try to pressure you into taking action
Common Types of Scams
If it is too good to be true, beware!
- Student Fee Scams – offering to pay international students’ tuition fees directly to the University on behalf of a student at a discounted rate up to 10-20% off. Warning: only pay fees direct to University.
- Bank Impersonation – making a call appear to come from the bank’s legitimate phone number or by sending a text message that appears in the same conversation thread as a genuine bank message.
- Accommodation Scams – often the rent is improbably too low, and they ask for some payment upfront.
- Employment or Job Offer Scams – people are told that a job is available for them via social media e.g. What’s App, that is either very well paid (thousands of dollars a week!) or very convenient (work from home).
- Investment or Moneymaking Scams – most common scam with $292 million lost in 2022.
- Fake Government Agency Scams – e.g, Robo calls from immigration or tax office.
- Fake Technician Scams – indicate something is wrong with your internet to get your details.
- Romance’ Scams – very common and prey on people’s vulnerability and can go on for a while.
- Some ads on social media – some ads on places like eBay, Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree might list things like laptops or instruments ‘for sale’ but are fake scam accounts. View these tips on how to stay safe using Facebook Marketplace
Top Tips for Avoiding Scams
Stop
- Take your time before giving money or providing personal information.
- Trust your instincts, if something doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t.
- Scammers will offer to help you verify who you are to get your personal information and pretend they are from a legitimate organisation.
Think
- Ask yourself if the message or call could be fake?
- Ask a trusted friend or family member what they would do.
- Watch out for emails or text messages that look legitimate with a slight variation and don’t click on link or respond without checking if authentic first.
- Do not use the number they give you to ring back but check the number to ring on an official website of the government or business or through secure apps.
- If you are not sure say no, hang up or delete.
Protect
- Enable two-factor authentication and change passwords regularly.
- Act quickly if something feels wrong.
- Contact your bank immediately if you lose money or have provided some personal account information or if you notice some unusual activity on your cards or accounts.
- If concerned about identity theft seek help from organisations like IDCARE.
- Report scams or get more information from Scamwatch.
Support
If you have been scammed and have reported it to banks and Scamwatch, just be aware there is further support available within the University including Financial Counselling, Legal Service and from our Student Wellbeing Connect team.