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It's raining scams!

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In the periods following disasters like the recent floods we see scammers out in force trying to take advantage of vulnerable people. Be on the lookout for scammers posing as government agencies, insurers & charities.  

Laboratories Credit Union is urging residents in flood affected areas to be on the lookout for scammers posing as government employees, insurers or charity groups working hard to restore impacted communities.Crisis and rebate scammers deploy various tactics to take advantage of people in vulnerable circumstances, says Leanne Vale, Director of Services and Financial Crimes for the Customer Owned Banking Association.

According to the Insurance Council of Australia, more than 5,000 insurance claims were lodged over the weekend, with insurers aiming to fast-track the processing of claims for flood-impacted policyholders. “Brazen scammers will not hesitate to pose as policyholders and intercept cash payments through fraudulent emails and SMS.“

With this natural disaster impacting densely populated areas in NSW and Queensland, we may well see a higher number of insurance claims and requests for government assistance than the 2020 bushfires. “Scammers will closely follow this disaster and target payments that are essential to recovery, whether funding temporary accommodation, replacing essential items, or rebuilding homes.” 

“It’s important to remember that government departments will never randomly phone or send text messages to initiate a benefit claim,” says Mrs Vale. “Cut and pasting government department icons, brands and imitating email and SMS are all tactics from the scammers playbook.” The amount lost to rebate scams is also on the rise. In December 2020, ACCC’s Scamwatch recorded a 300% increase from the previous year.

Advice

Laboratories Credit Union provides the following advice:

For more information

Enquire Call 02 9859 0585