Don’t be seduced or deceived by fraudsters
02 March 2008
International criminals are targeting trusting people from small communities and scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars each month.
Louise Petschler, Chief Executive Officer with Abacus – Australian Mutuals, the association for credit unions and mutual building societies, said thousands of dollars were reported as lost to fraudsters every month, with many more incidents going unreported.
"Credit unions and building societies have been successful in establishing technological security barriers to protect their members against fraud. As a result, these scam-artists are looking at other ways to seduce or deceive people into parting with their money" Ms Petschler said.
"Fraudsters are now using dating sites and other sites to make contact with unsuspecting victims. The fraudsters will often seduce their victims with incredible offers of love or money."
"These criminals go to great length to perpetrate these scams, often being in daily contact with their victims for long periods.
"They are professional con-artists – building relationships of such trust that in some cases the victims refuse to believe they are being conned, no matter how much evidence is before them."
"Don’t take the bait. If you are in doubt, don’t give information out. And don’t send anyone you don’t know money – unless you are prepared to lose it forever."
Ms Petschler said Abacus and its member credit unions and mutual building societies are working with a number of Federal and State/Territory Governments through the Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce and the Australian High Tech Crime Centre to help members combat crime and keep their money safe.
Credit unions and mutual building societies are participating in the Australian Consumer Fraud Taskforce’s Scamwatch campaign, a national campaign about scams and fraud prevention. See www.abacus.org.au for details.
For more information:
Leanne Vale, Senior Manager – Financial Crimes
0414 488 030
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Mark Degotardi, Head of Public Affairs
0419 998 201
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