When a natural disaster strikes, things can move pretty fast.
People are anxious and looking for help, and this can sometimes lead them to make quick decisions without the usual time and care they might normally take.
Unfortunately, that is a perfect combination for scams.
Welcome to Scam Spot.
Scams during storms, bushfires and other natural disasters can come in a number of different forms:
1. Fake charities. Either totally made up, or just an impersonation of a real existing charity, these scams take advantage of our good will to elicit donations either via text message, cold call, social media or, on rare occasions, knocking door-to-door.
2. Offers of assistance. Many government agencies and institutions offer various forms of financial support during a crisis. Make sure any offer like this is really coming from that organisation or business. It is easy to set up a fake website and request your personal information as part of a grant application.
3. Fake sellers. When people see images of empty shelves or hear of shortages, they can get on marketplaces and desperately purchase items from anyone selling what they need. Whatever is in short supply, there will be fake sellers online. This is true all year round - the items for sale rotate with whatever is in demand.
We have seen impersonations of the State Emergency Services in the wake of a natural disaster. But scammers can impersonate anyone. They play the right hold music, give a name of someone that works there and even build entire replica websites. And they will take you there from social media ads that these days can include fake images of the disaster, fake celebrity endorsements or even fake official speeches and interviews.
If you get a call or text out of the blue, don't click on any links. Don't even use the callback number if they provide one. Find the number for that organisation and call them directly. You can check charity credentials on government sites. You are not being rude to anyone if you say "Please give me my reference number. I'm going to hang up now and call you back".
Natural disasters cause plenty of upheaval all by themselves, and it’s normal to want to reach out for help. But exercising caution could save you from additional distress.
Ben Young is Westpac’s Head of Fraud Prevention. Ben’s team researches and operates Westpac’s key fraud protection processes for the ~25 million transactions processed each day by the bank, particularly around credit cards, internet banking, branch and applications for credit. Ben has been intimately involved in Westpac’s anti-fraud processes since 2007 and has worked in various data led risk processes since 1997.
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