Every week has a name, so it seems these days, and the one this week is, besides others, about consumer fraud.
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Our Fair Trading government department is marking it by urging consumers to be aware of scams and travelling conmen.
While the fly-by-nighter travelling conmen are often easy to pick, it’s the scam artists who invariably suck more people in.
And a number of new schemes reported around the Tamworth area and the region in the past week makes it timely to highlight the risks they pose.
As most legitimate sellers will tell you, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is not.
Same goes for scammers.
And while a blanket warning to people, especially the vulnerable elderly, to ignore any telephone approaches for your finances in any way, does some harm to some legitimate cold callers for some charities, it is probably the best tip for the risks.
The bottom line is don’t be gullible. And no-one in Nigeria has any money to give you. Forget it.
Scam traders have developed sophisticated schemes set up where they can look and seem like the genuine deal.
Tamworth couple Rona and Stan Allen have received bogus emails and phone calls before, but the latest threw them with a mention of the Australian Federal Police.
An official-looking email address asked the receiver to click on links to “check” their non-existent infringement notice for “inattentive driving”.
They went to local police, who confirmed other locals had also been hit by the scam which asks readers to pay a fine of more than $100.
If links within the email are clicked, the recipient’s computer is infected with malware which renders it inoperable.
Another point, even banks don’t often email – unless you’ve set up some online accounts, but mostly you can bet it’s a massive mail message from some scammer hoping to hit on a couple of victims.
Delete, delete, delete.
They’ll get you if they’re fair dinkum.
The latest local scams involve so-called tax revenues, speeding fines and fundraising.
Another reader rang us a few days ago to add another variation on the phone scam – messages purporting to be from the Australian Tax Office, claiming unpaid taxes and pending lawsuits.
Ignore it. Don’t be frightened or fearful.
The tax office will get you when it wants to, but not over the phone - and not by email.