{"id":89889,"date":"1999-12-31T00:33:00","date_gmt":"1999-12-30T13:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smartoffice.com.au\/ouch-oz-hit-by-93m-scams\/"},"modified":"1999-12-31T00:33:00","modified_gmt":"1999-12-30T13:33:00","slug":"ouch-oz-hit-by-93m-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/1999\/12\/31\/ouch-oz-hit-by-93m-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"Ouch! OZ Hit By ‘$93m’ Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"

O crap! Where DID $93 million go?!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Aussies lost millions to scams last year. An eye-popping $93 million, in fact. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
There’s also been a phenomenal (65%) jump in online shopping scams in 2012. <\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Scammers asking for advance fee\/up-front payment is the top con job in OZ – accounting for over 30% of reported scams, <\/span> according to the consumer watchdog’s new ‘Targeting Scams’ report. <\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
The ‘Microsoft’ computer virus scam continued to “heavily target” Australians, as did a ‘scareware’ scam, where con artists posed as Australian Federal Police. F<\/span>alse <\/span>billing, job and dating scams were among other scams highlighted in the report.  <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

The consumer watchdog, ACCC, received 84,000 contacts from consumers about cons in 2012 – and have warned about the worrying increase in online shopping scams – <\/span>Aussies lost over $4m to Internet scams alone. <\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
Last week, Victoria’s consumer affairs<\/a> minister warned of fake websites posing as genuine well known technology retailers, and shut down several including <\/span>directdiscountwarehouse.com.au. <\/font><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Web scams account for one in three scams, but phone\/text is still the No. 1 way to be conned out of cash – constituting over half (56 per cent) of all reported cons.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
“Nowadays, it can take just the click of a button to fall victim to a scam,” warns ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
However, the $93m losses are just “the tip of the iceberg” as scam victims are often “too embarrassed” to report when they’ve been conned. <\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
New South Wales (23.5 per cent), Queensland (21 per cent), Victoria (18 per cent) were the most scammed states. <\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n
 <\/div>\n

“Scammers continue to find sophisticated methods to deliver scams, taking advantage of new technologies and communication methods to try and slip under your radar,” Rickard added. <\/span><\/div>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
The launch of the report marks the beginning of National Consumer Fraud Week 2013, with this year’s campaign, ‘Outsmart the Scammers!’, which focuses on shop safely online.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
The ACCC’s 2012 Targeting scams report is available from www.accc.gov.au or contact 1300 302 502. For info on common online shopping scams, visit www.scamwatch.gov.au\/outsmartthescammers.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O crap! Where DID $93 million go?!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":91898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-89889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","category-internet","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\nOuch! OZ Hit By '$93m' Scams - Smart Office<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.strixdevelopment.net\/smartoffice\/1999\/12\/31\/ouch-oz-hit-by-93m-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ouch! OZ Hit By '$93m' Scams - Smart Office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"O crap! 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