Beware of scammers and spammers

After 2020, Year of the Pandemic, we are all looking forward to a Happy Holiday Season and spending time with our families and friends. We deserve it!

But scammers and spammers won’t be taking a break. Their ‘market focus’ will switch to the personal affairs and business of all those at home or on a holiday break. In fact, scammers and spammers have already been very busy this year.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Scamwatch Service has reported:

• Over 5,170 scam reports mentioning the coronavirus, with over $6.2 million in reported losses
• Over 12,000 reports of online shopping scams, with almost $7 million in reported losses
• That Australians have lost over $8.8 million to threat-based scams, and young people are reporting the highest losses. These scams are mainly via phone calls and impersonate various officials, such as police, ATO officers or government investigators

Centium aims to raise awareness of these threats and protect our valued clients during the “silly season”. Here are some handy hints in this regard:

• When dealing with uninvited contacts from people or businesses – whether it is over the phone, by mail, email, in person or on a social networking site – always consider the possibility that the approach may be a scam
• Do not open suspicious texts, pop-up windows or click on links or attachments in emails – delete them!
• When shopping online, beware of offers that seem too good to be true, and of unusual payment requests. Always use an online shopping service that you know and trust
• Choose passwords that would be difficult for others to guess and update them regularly
• Do not respond to phone calls asking for remote access to your computer – hang up, even if they mention a well-known company such as Telstra

Centium has a long history of providing cyber security services. In our view, there are two threats of which you should be very aware: Phishing and Ransomware.

To understand how best to identify and handle them, please view our short three-minute video below.

Click here to see Centium’s cyber security services. Click here to talk to us about how we can help.

And from Centium, we wish you a happy Holiday Season, stay cyber-safe and all the best for the 2021 New Year!