One of the most common scams is the phishing email. This is where a scammer sends an email pretending to be from a real company or organisation, such as a bank, MyGov, Australia Post, PayPal, Netflix or a delivery company. The email may say your account has been locked, your payment has failed, or you need to verify your details.
In the past, scam emails were often easier to spot because they had spelling mistakes or strange wording. But artificial intelligence has changed the game. Scammers can now create emails that look professional, sound polite and feel much more believable. That means we can no longer rely only on bad spelling as a warning sign.
Text message scams are also common. These might say you have an unpaid toll, a parcel could not be delivered, your bank account has been locked or there is a refund waiting for you. They are short, direct and designed to make you click the link quickly without thinking.
Phone call scams can be even more stressful because there is a real person speaking to you. They might pretend to be from your bank, Telstra, the NBN, Microsoft, the ATO or even the police. A big warning sign is when someone calls out of the blue and pressures you to act straight away.
Remote access scams are another serious one. This is where someone convinces you to install a program so they can control your computer, phone or tablet. They may say they are fixing a problem, securing your account or helping with a refund. Real support tools can be useful, but you should never give remote access to someone who contacted you unexpectedly.
Romance and friendship scams. These can be especially cruel because they target trust, kindness and loneliness. A scammer may build a relationship over weeks or months before asking for money, gift cards, crypto or help with an emergency.
Crypto scams are also becoming a major issue. Crypto itself is not automatically a scam, but scammers like it because payments can be fast, confusing and hard to reverse. Be careful if anyone asks you to send money using cryptocurrency, a crypto app or a crypto machine.
The best advice is simple: slow down. If a message or call asks for money, passwords, personal details, gift cards, crypto or remote access, stop and check first. Use the official website, open the app yourself or call the company using a number you know is real.
This is only a quick overview of the scams people are most likely to come across, from emails and text messages to phone calls, romance scams, remote access scams and crypto.
In the latest Ask A Tech podcast, we go into more detail about how these scams work, including this week’s Don’t Click That Link segment, where we open up an unpaid toll scam and show how the same sort of trick can arrive in several ways, including email or text message.
You can hear the warning signs to watch for and what to do if something feels off on the MMG app or Spotify.
I hope as always you have learnt something, and if you have any questions you can contact me at askatech@mmg.com.au
