If you’ve got a phone, there’s a good chance you’ve received a scam message before.

And you might have noticed these scam messages ramp up in the last couple of years.

These scams are getting FREAKISHLY common and harder to detect.

So much so, that Australians have lost a record $3.1 billion to scams in 2022, which was an 80% increase on the year before.

That works out to be about $121 for every single person in the country.

‍Why now?

We’ve heard stories of scammers throughout time, and scammers are sneaky and opportunistic and they tend to come for us when we’re more weak and vulnerable. 

And in the aftermath of a pandemic, a lot of people have been vulnerable, whether that be physically, mentally, or financially.

And scammers are getting more and more creative with their tactics too so it’s a good idea to be aware of the main ways scams can crop up in your daily life.

You’ve probably seen many of the common scams yourself either in your texts or your email spam box.

Some of the most common scams that can cost people their personal details and their hard-earned money are:

1. Impersonation scams:

This is where scammers get a bit too serious about role play and contact you via phone, text, email, social media, claiming to be someone else to trick you into doing some sort of action, giving your personal information, or making a fraudulent payment. Red flag ❌.

Some of the most common ones that have been circulating recently are the ‘Hi mum’ texts and texts about toll payments.

They often include links that have nothing to do with the organisation. ANOTHER red flag ❌.

2. Remote access scams

This is when a scammer calls you and pretends to be a staff member from a large telecommunication organisation like Telstra, or NBN (even if you’re not a customer). Also a red flag ❌.Money Scam Red Flags Ya Gotta Know

They’ll claim that your internet’s been hacked or your security is at risk and they’ll ask you to install software so that they can gain access to your computer remotely to fix the issue. 

Then boom, your computer is in someone else's control.

The real organisations won’t make unsolicited calls to you or ask you to install software to get remote access to your device.

3. Investment scams

Things that look too good to be true, usually are.

Usually a scammer will contact you out of the blue and offer you a chance to invest in a super lucrative opportunity with low risk.

It’ll sound like a win-win.

Butttt, that’s all a ruse. Instead, the investment is either totally fake, or it exists but the money you give the scammer goes to them and not the investment.

A commonly known example of a dodgy investment is a Ponzi scheme.

And if the scammer is based overseas, it’s incredibly hard to retrieve the money.

Australians lose more money to investment scams than any other scam - they’re really hard to spot. 

It’s important to seek expert financial advice from an ASIC registered financial adviser before getting involved in new investments.

To learn about what steps you can take to be more aware of money scams and how to avoid these pesky buggers, stay tuned for part two, 4 Steps To Being A Money Scam Detective, dropping tomorrow.