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‘Anyone can get caught out by a scam’: ASIC warning
Indigenous consumers lost more than $1 million to investment scams in 2019, ASIC has revealed.
‘Anyone can get caught out by a scam’: ASIC warning
Indigenous consumers lost more than $1 million to investment scams in 2019, ASIC has revealed.
It’s National Scams Awareness Week this week, and ASIC and members of the National Indigenous Consumer Strategy are reminding Indigenous consumers that “anyone can get caught out by a scam”.
The consumer watchdog’s ScamWatch received 2,767 scam reports from Indigenous consumers last year alone at a cost of more than $2 million, with the greatest losses reportedly coming from investment scams, compromising more than half of the total money lost.
The warning has led ASIC and other agencies within the National Indigenous Consumer Strategy to recommend three tips for Indigenous consumers:
- Be careful of sharing information either over the phone or online
If someone asks for personal details on the phone, hang up. Call them back using details from the official website of the organisation that contacted you first.
- Ask for more information
If consumers are contacted by someone offering an investment and ways to make easy money, you should ask for more information about the company and do your own research to work out whether the company is legitimate.
- Take time to think things through
ASIC also advises taking the time to think an offer through. Don’t ever feel pressured into sharing personal information or investing your money.
If you think you may have been scammed, you can lodge a report of misconduct with ASIC or report your concern to the ACCC’s ScamWatch.
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