Neighborhood Watch: Protecting yourself from scammers

By now many of us are familiar with the hallmarks of a scam call: an unknown number rings, someone has our name, offering better a better service provider for our bills, or an investment opportunity. While these scammers might give themselves away, they only need to be successful once or twice a day for their business models to be profitable; emptying accounts and causing irreparable damage to their victims. They're also hard at work to increase their complexity and believability. Fortunately, as high tech as they go - the solution is ultra-low tech: don't trust, and verify everything outside a call if you have any doubts. Identity Crime describes activities where someone uses a false, manipulated, or stolen identity to facilitate a crime. Recent estimates by the Commonwealth Attorney General's Department indicate that identity crime costs Australia upwards of $1.6 billion per year, with the majority ($900m) lost by individuals through credit card fraud, identity theft and scams. Identity Theft is the assumption of a pre-existing identity (or significant part thereof), with or without consent. Chifley Police at Cowra said "We encourage Cowra and surrounding area residents to remain vigilant, as identity theft and fraud continues to become more prevalent and increase in sophistication. Although the risk and complexity of fraud is growing nationally, the steps people can take to prevent being a victim are simple." OIC Thomas Murdoch said. "Avoid email or text message links from unknown senders, always seek a second opinion when someone is trying to sell you a service or investment, securely dispose of bills, bank statements and expired credit/debit cards are just a few steps worth remembering." Whilst scammers might say they're offering a service, or start a call with your name and location and seem familiar with you - Inspector Murdoch's advice was to first rely on your instincts, and if in doubt to seek another point of view, as at worst, a genuine service provider will understand caution and not behave aggressively. Inspector Murdoch said "Trust your gut, and if something looks and sounds too good to be true - it probably is, and you should never feel pressured into handing over personal or financial information. As always, if you believe you have been a victim of fraud, please report the matter to the NSW Police Force." Marek Zawislankski is the store manager for MyTechMate in Cowra. He says a few simple steps can add layers of security that make the effort for scammers too great to bother with you, "There are some simple steps people and organisations can take to reduce the chances of becoming a victim. Making your passwords and PINS unique is an easy way to increase your level of security. Ensuring that anti-virus and anti-malware systems are installed and kept updated is also essential, along with keeping the operating system of each device current. For those looking to further safeguard their personal or commercial data we recommend encrypting your devices (such as laptops, tablets, smartphones) and deploying multi-factor authentication (MFA) in networks that contain sensitive data." He also suggested some basic habits to keep to protect yourself as hackers and fraudsters need your permission to gain access, "The most common way people get scammed is through remote access. To protect yourself, do not let anyone access your computer remotely, no legitimate business will ever call you and ask to get access to your computer.” "We know cyber security can be an overwhelming subject, so we encourage Cowra and surrounding area residents to get in touch if they need advice or help understanding all the tech jargon." If anyone is in doubt of the legitimacy of a call, they're advised to seek another opinion and, if you think you're a victim of fraud, report it to the police.