Australians duped by JB Hi-Fi, Myer and Woolworths gift card scams
Aussies are being warned of an “alarming” new scam where payment is demanded though retail gift cards and cash, resulting in one man losing $50,000.
Aussies are being warned about a new scam where payments are being demanded via retail gifts cards from Woolworths, JB Hi-Fi and Myer or cash paid to couriers, with one man losing $50,000.
The scammers, pretending to be from the Australian Taxation Office and other agencies, such as the Australian Federal Police, are conning people into making payments, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) revealed.
Con-artists are phoning people to claim their tax file number (TFN) has been suspended or compromised due to money laundering or other illegal activity or that they owe a debt.
Payment is demanded through ‘cardless cash’ ATM withdrawals and retail gift cards from the likes of JB Hi-Fi, Myer and Woolworths, as well as from courier services who collect the cash payments and cash delivery made in person at a predetermined public location.
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ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh said what was “most alarming” about these methods was the implication that these scammers are collecting funds on Australian soil.
“We recently saw one scammer lure a young woman out of lockdown in NSW to drop off $30,000 in cash to a person at a local hardware store carpark. The scammer, claiming to be from the Federal Police, threatened arrest and told the victim that her TFN was compromised. The victim also sent photocopies of her driver’s licence and Medicare card to the scammer before reporting to the ATO and the police,” he said.
“Another shocking account came from a Victorian man who paid $50,000 to a representative who collected the cash from their front door. The scammer demanded personal details such as their TFN, address and name over the phone before the home visit. The scammer also ‘guaranteed’ the victim would get their money back if they paid upfront.”
If you have paid money to a scammer or are concerned about your personal safety, report it to your local police straight away and specify all the details, Mr Loh said.
“Scammers are always on the hunt for new ways to con Australians out of their hard-earned cash,” he said.
“Impersonating ATO staff is one of many common tactics. Since July, Australians have paid $116,300 using cardless cash, local retail gift cards, and in-person cash in hand, including through couriers, to scammers pretending to be from the ATO.”
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$70 million lost this year already
It’s been a bumper year for scammers so far. Aussies have lost over $70 million to investment scams in just the first six months of this year alone, with half the money being stolen from cryptocurrency cons.
Disturbingly, this is more than the total losses reported to the ACCC’s Scamwatch division for all of 2020, and projected losses are set to double to $140 million by the end of the year, it said.
Scamwatch recently warned Australians to be on the lookout for “Flubot” text messages, where phone users are often enticed to click on the link by promises of hearing a missed voicemail.
Data from Scamwatch shows a 53 per cent increase in reports about investment scams received this year, up from 3104 in the first half of 2020 to 4763 reports so far in 2021.
As well as taking victims’ money, scammers often commit fraud or identity theft, it cautioned.
Here are more scams it is warning Aussies to watch out for:
Cryptocurrency trading scams
Losses to investment scams involving bitcoin have already reached $25.7 million this year, compared to $17.8 million across all of 2020, representing a 44 per cent increase.
Cryptocurrency scams were also the most commonly reported type of investment scam with 2240 reports.
Scammers pretend to have highly profitable trading systems based on individual expertise or through algorithms they developed.
Many of these scams also use fake celebrity endorsements to try to enhance their legitimacy, Scamwatch warned.
Victims will initially be able to access small returns sourced from other victims’ initial deposits but the scammers soon claim problems with making withdrawals and cut off contact.
“Be wary of investment opportunities with low risk and high returns. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” said ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard.
Romance baiting
Starting in dating apps and websites, scammers develop a relationship with the victim and convince them to invest, usually in cryptocurrency or bond scams.
“These scams predominantly impact younger people, who might be seeing these ‘investment opportunities’ through social media, recommendations from friends, or by registering their interest in cryptocurrency on questionable websites,” Ms Rickard said.
“Remember, never take investment advice, send money or give credit card details, online account details or personal information to anyone you don’t know or trust, and never to someone you have only met online or over the phone, as you never know who you might be dealing with.”
There has been an increase of 66 per cent in the number of reports about investment scams made by people aged 18-24 years, with losses of more than $1.7 million so far this year.
This is an increase of 259 per cent compared to all of last year.
Mobile apps and social networking sites accounted for 40 per cent of all investment scams which involved a financial loss.
Ponzi schemes
Scamwatch received over 400 reports and more than $1 million in losses to the Hope Business and Wonderful World scams this year.
These scams used advertising on social media sites and had their applications available via official app stores.
People invested their money and were able to make small withdrawals in the beginning before the scammers cut off contact.
The ACCC contacted the Google and Apple apps stores and had the Hope Business app removed.
The main Wonderful World scam app has also been removed from the stores.
These scams disproportionately affected recent migrants from Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
Overall, more than 13 per cent of losses, amounting to $9.6 million, were from people who spoke English as a second language.
Impostor bond scams
Impersonating legitimate companies, scammers offered victims the opportunity to purchase fake corporate bonds.
In the first half of this year, there were over 58 reports and losses of more than $6.8 million reported to Scamwatch.
Older Australians looking for well-known respected companies to invest their money in have been the most impacted, making up 43 per cent of reports and accounting for almost half of the losses.
“These scams are particularly hard to detect because scammers use the companies’ legitimate prospectuses which are registered with ASIC, link to the actual websites and have the correct ABN/ACN details. However, the scammers change key details such as contact information and bank details,” Ms Rickard said.
“That’s why it’s really important to contact the company using details you source yourself from doing a search online or visiting the company’s website directly, and to seek independent advice no matter how confident you feel.”
What to do if you think you have been scammed
People who think they’ve been scammed should contact their bank or financial institution as soon as possible.
They can also contact IDCARE, a free government support service, if they suspect they are a victim of identity theft.
People can make a report to Scamwatch too.
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