NSW Fair Trading Minister, Linda Burney today announced an education campaign warning consumers to beware of scams targeting unsuspecting consumers. 

Fair Trading is part of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce which is running Fraud Fortnight, a 2-week awareness campaign from 24 February to 8 March. 

Ms Burney said Fraud Fortnight aims to raise awareness about deceptive and seductive scams and this week the campaign messages will focus on seductive scams.  

“Seduction scams involve great offers that were never intended to deliver,” Ms Burney said. 

“It can be as simple as clicking on a computer pop-up for a prize that sends a virus to your computer, or entering a competition that seems legitimate but is really collecting information to steal your money or your identity.”

Ms Burney reminded consumers that the key message is ‘SCAMS TARGET YOU! Protect Yourself’, as scammers are out to seduce you.

“Last year Fair Trading received over 1,800 enquiries and complaints relating to a number of scams,” Ms Burney said.

“These included overseas and Australian get-rich-quick lotteries, competitions, investment and gambling as well as business opportunity scams. 

“A recent example includes the infamous David Rhodes chain letter scam which is an illegal pyramid scheme aimed at duping unsuspecting individuals out of their hard earned money. 

“Experience shows us that pyramid schemes expand quickly, and collapse just as quickly, with most participants losing their money. 

“Another example is the well known Spanish Lottery scam which offers people fake tickets in a Spanish lottery or advises them they have won a substantial amount of money in an official lottery draw.

“The success of this scam relies heavily on people confusing it with authorised Spanish lotteries such as the El Gordo de le Primitiva and El Gordo de Navidad.”

Scams are designed to trick you into giving away your money or your personal details. Scams can come in many forms – mail, email and internet, mobile or landline, and door-to-door.

To find out more about scams and to report scams visit www.scamwatch.gov.au or call SCAMwatch on 1300 795 995.

Look out for more information on how to avoid rip offs and stop fakes stealing your money and identity during Fraud Fortnight.

Ms Burney encouraged consumers who have been the victim of scams to fill out the survey on the Australian Institute of Criminology website www.aic.gov.au/research/fraud/acft/survey.html

“Gathering this information will help agencies such as Fair Trading to improve the prevention, detection, investigation, and prosecution of scam offenders,” Ms Burney said.

Background

Fraud Fortnight is an initiative of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce. Established in March 2005, the Taskforce is comprised of 19 Federal and State government regulatory agencies and departments (including New Zealand) that have a responsibility for consumer protection in relation to frauds and scams.

The Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce is part of the Mass-Market Global Fraud project of the International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN). Due to the exponential growth of global scams, over 30 ICPEN consumer regulatory agencies around the world participate in campaigns to warn consumers against global scams and fraud during the February/March period.

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