You’re not alone if you’ve lost money or personal information to a scammer. Unfortunately, hundreds of thousands of Australians are scammed every year.
However, you can act immediately to limit the damage and protect yourself from further loss. Here are a few important things you should do straight away1:
1. Act fast to prevent further losses
Contact your bank or card provider immediately to report the scam. Ask them to stop any transactions. If you’re unsure whether you’re being scammed, stop sending money. Scammers will keep asking for more money until you stop.
2. Get help to recover
IDCARE is Australia and New Zealand’s national identity and cyber support service. They can help you make a plan (for free) to limit the damage. Call them on 1800 595 160 or visit their website at www.idcare.org.
3. Warn others and report the scam
Once you have secured your details, you can help try to stop the scam or warn others by reporting it to Scamwatch at scamwatch.gov.au/report-a-scam. You can also warn people around you. You can also make an official report to the police online at cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report.
4. Watch out for follow up scams
If scammers have stolen money from you, they often come back for more. Unfortunately, 1 in 3 victims of a scam have been scammed more than once. If you’ve lost money to a scam, look out for new scams – especially someone offering to help you get your money back.
5. Get support
Being scammed is a horrible experience, and it can happen to anyone.
If a scam is causing you problems with debt, you can talk to a financial counsellor at moneysmart.gov.au/managing-debt/financial-counselling. This is a free and confidential service to help you get your finances back on track.
If you need someone to talk to, reach out to family and friends or contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 to speak to someone online or over the phone, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
