I heard a good one recently – my mate rang to ask whether I thought he could have won 250,000 pounds in a UK lottery. On the flipside, he wondered if I thought it was it a scam so I asked if he entered the draw and he said “I don’t know”.

When the laughter died down, my mate told me he had received an email stating his company domain details had been randomly selected from a website through a computerised draw system and that he’d won.  Apparently there were many companies across the globe in the draw, but he’d gotten lucky.

My mate wrote as requested and was told that to claim the money he had to forward a processing fee of 60 pounds.  I smelt a rat and told him so. These types of emails go out across the net every second and more often than not are called ‘advance fee’ scams. I told him to forget about it, but I couldn’t convince him it was bogus.

As far as my friend was concerned, if he risked 100 or so Australian dollars he could collect almost half a million – he wanted to believe it.  This fella is very careful with his cash, yet, he paid the 60 pounds. He was then told that the processing fee had been increased and that he was now required to pay a further 50 pounds to be eligible to claim his prize.

They only got him once.

This experience demonstrates just how easy technology has made it for scammers using fraudulent methods to shake out money from online consumers.  It’s timely as well as from 1st – 7th March Telstra is supporting the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce Fraud week.

The week is themed “Online Offensive – Fighting Fraud Online” and is targeting: users of social networking sites and encouraging them to protect their identity; shoppers online who may be unaware of new schemes and scams and the ‘Silver Surfers’ who may not be as net-savvy as those who have grown up with technology.

It is very important to understand that just like in the real world, if an opportunity in the virtual world looks to good to be true, it probably is.

To help stay protected from fraud remember these top three tips:

1. Hoax emails – Banks and sites like BigPond and Trading Post will never ask for personal information like credit card or bank account details via email or SMS. If you receive an email or SMS asking for this information, delete it. If you are worried, contact the company the email or SMS claims it is from to verify that it is legitimate.
2. Shopping – When buying big ticket items like a car, always try and speak directly with the seller and inspect the item prior to making payment.
3. Transact safely online – Ensure the website you are using keeps your financial details private and secure and that they offer anti-fraud protection.

Related information:

• Report a suspected fraud or hoax
• Media Release – Stay protected – fighting online scams and hoaxes
• Examples of latest phishing hoax emails
• Telemarketers and mobile phone numbers hoax
• Email hoaxes, fraudulent emails and phishing explained
• 90# Email Hoax
• Mobile Phone Hoaxes
• Internet and cyber-safety
• SCAMwatch
  SCAMwatch provides information to consumers and small businesses about how to recognise, avoid and report scams.