ࡱ> !` S4bjbj\\ .N>>-,%  84,`4 `qL"k4ppppppp$ shruq ;!;!;!q q$$$;!`  p$;!p$$.{iH Wp q 5"k@p0q0`qlT$vG#|$vWpWp$v kpt[r$\) qq#X`q;!;!;!;! X X  PROTECT YOUR MONEY Overview of the week one Protect Your Money for the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce Campaign March 2007 Scammers can use techniques such as phishing, money transfer schemes, or key-logging to illegally remove money from a person's bank account and/or transfer money to another account. Phones and computers provide mediums for scammers to reach consumers and steal their personal details including personal identification numbers (PINs) and passwords. Although financial scams have been around for a long time, they are now more sophisticated and are continuously evolving. This is exemplified by the emails and calls from scammers who have adopted the company names of legitimate companies in the United States, and the ability for scammers to capture data from users' keystrokes, which creates problems for consumers and financial institutions alike. The global nature of many scams, combined with the speed and expertise of the scammers, makes it extremely difficult for authorities to track them down. For example, scammers may be based in Thailand and target Australian employees to transfer money stolen from bank accounts to another country. Alternatively, overseas cold calling operators may make unsolicited phone calls, falsely claiming to be large international brokers offering shares in overseas companies to Australian investors. Therefore, in many cases, it is very difficult to trace the trail of the investments and almost impossible to retrieve funds for investors. The best way to combat the scams is for consumers to protect themselves. The following tips will assist consumers in protecting their money: 3 Steps for Protecting Your Money Never respond to an email asking for your PINs or passwords. Suspect a scam if you are asked for your account details or passwords. These are your keys to your money and should be kept secret. Banks and credit unions will never send you an email asking for personal security details like your Internet banking password or PIN. Never send money to someone you don't know or trust. Be wary of emails and telephone calls from people you don't know. Do not send money to collect winnings from lotteries you never entered. Only invest with licensed firms and advisors. Do a quick search of ASIC's website to ensure that the advisor or firm holds an Australian financial services licence (AFSL). If they don't hold an AFSL they must be employed by, or authorised to represent, a business that is licensed by ASIC. Also, check the list of illegal schemes on ASIC's consumer website (www.fido.gov.au). Remember, just because something isn't listed, it doesn't mean that it is okay. Here are some of the most common scams from which consumers need to protect their money. Phishing Scams Phishing scams are emails or telephone calls designed to trick people into disclosing personal details. A phishing email may purport to be from your bank, credit card company or some other service you use, and request your account details, and sometimes your PIN, either by return mail or through a website. ASIC has reported a 25% increase in phishing complaints over the past two financial years. More than one in five of all consumer scam complaints related to phishing in the 2005-06 financial year. Phishing emails often look genuine as they mimic: official logos and branding; the names of real people; links to pages from the real website; and official-looking fine print. Phishing sites are typically up and gone within a short period of time and enforcement is inherently difficult given the global scale of these scams. Financial institutions are the most common target of phishing scams, however some other recent targets include eBay, and PayPal. Money Transfer Schemes Consumers should be wary of schemes which are promoted by spam email and on the Internet as 'working from home' opportunities. These are also known as 'money transfer schemes' or 'mule schemes.' The schemes typically claim to offer you a commission for receiving money into your bank account and then transferring it out again. The commission can range from between 7% to 15% of the amount transferred. The purpose of these emails and websites is for parties to provide bank accounts to receive stolen funds. These funds are stolen from other banking customers via the internet through the use of trojan and keylogging viruses which capture customer internet details. Once these details are known, the offenders need Australian bank accounts to launder the money through. The money is then transferred to these accounts and the account holder is instructed to keep a commission and pass the rest to a pre-arranged overseas destination. Keylogging: malicious software By clicking on emails or surfing the web, a computer can be infected by viruses which install malicious software on the computer. This software captures keystroke data, or exploits vulnerabilities within operating systems that can be used to capture logon data. Financial institutions are particularly susceptible to keylogging attacks as account numbers and passwords entered at banks' websites can immediately be captured by a keylogger. Advance Fee Fraud Advance Fee Fraud includes the Nigerian letter and lottery scams. These scams may be old, but they are still going strong and getting new victims. Nigerian letter scams use letters or (more commonly) email and offer great payments/riches in return for or access to a person's bank account. They always emphasise the need for urgency and secrecy to discourage consumers from seeking advice. If the consumer sends their details, the scammers reply with what appears to be genuine fund transfer information before later asking them for a payment to cover 'local changes' or 'bribes for local officials'. Once money is sent, the victims never receive any money or hear from the scammers again. A recent example involving Spanish cold-callers targeting timeshare owners in Queensland and offering to buy their timeshares on receipt of an evaluation or administration fee bore all of the hallmarks of an advance fee fraud. Lottery Scams A lottery scam is a type of advance fee fraud that usually involves an email (or letter) sent to a customer stating that they have some money held for them overseas. Reasons for this may be that they went into a draw for distribution or unclaimed money and were selected, or that they have won a lottery. The customer is asked to make a payment for the money to be released and sent to them. However, there is generally no money, and the consumer sends off money to the promoter and never hears from them again. Illegal Investment Schemes There are rules around how money is raised. ASIC enforces financial services legislation which requires people who carry on the business of providing financial services to be licensed with ASIC. The licensing regime affords protection for consumers by prescribing certain disclosure requirements and providing avenues for redress for consumer complaints. Illegal investment schemes are schemes that do not hold such licences and include managed investment schemes that are not registered with ASIC, ponzi schemes, international bond schemes and pyramid investment schemes. Many of these schemes are targeted at particular groups including the elderly, ethnic and church groups. What is the government doing to protect consumers from financial scams? Consumer Education Campaigns Regulatory authorities with responsibility for consumer protection, such as ASIC, ACCC and the State and Territory Fair Trading Agencies, can enforce Australian law only in Australian courts; therefore, the main protective efforts are focused on warning people not to deal with scammers. Consumers should check to see if the company or advisor holds an Australian financial services licence before handing over their hard earned money. ASIC also maintains a list of illegal investment schemes on its consumer website at HYPERLINK "http://www.fido.gov.au/"www.fido.gov.au and regularly issues warnings to consumers about various types of scams, and see  HYPERLINK "http://www.scamwatch.gov.au" www.scamwatch.gov.au for a general overview of these scam types. Prosecution Work Although Commonwealth regulators do not have extra-territorial enforcement powers that can be used in other countries, they works closely with overseas authorities to prevent and stop the scams in these countries. Despite the abovementioned jurisdictional hurdles, regulators continue to take all possible action necessary to enforce Australian law, including actioning illegal schemes within its jurisdiction. Background to the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce Consumer scams are crimes of dishonesty such as forgery, counterfeiting, on-line deception, and theft that are targeted at people who seek to purchase goods and services. Potential victims can be those who use fixed line or mobile phones, computers and the Internet, older people, and those who use professional advisers. As part of a whole of Government approach to combat consumer fraud and scams targeted at consumers, the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce was established in March 2005 and comprises governmental regulatory agencies and departments in Australia and New Zealand with a role in consumer protection. The four-week campaign, from March 5 31, is designed by the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce to help people protect themselves from scams. The overall campaign theme is SCAMS TARGET YOU PROTECT YOURSELF and the specific theme for the first week of the campaign is 'Protect Your Money. Agencies participating in the Taskforce are: Australian Government: Attorney Generals Department; Australian Bureau of Statistics; Australian Communications and Media Authority; Australian Competition & Consumer Commission; Australian Federal Police (represented by the Australian High Tech Crime Centre); Australian Institute of Criminology; Australian Securities & Investment Commission; and the Department of Communications, Information Technology & the Arts. New Zealand Government: NZ Commerce Commission; Ministry of Consumer Affairs. State and Territory Governments: All State and Territory Police jurisdictions, Australian Capital Territory Office of Fair Trading; Consumer Affairs Victoria; New South Wales Office of Fair Trading; Northern Territory Department of Justice; Queensland Department of Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry Development; South Australia Office of Consumer & Business Affairs; Tasmania Office of Consumer Affairs & Fair Trading; Western Australia Department of Consumer & Employment Protection. Taskforce partners Taskforce members are joined in communicating with Australian consumers about scams by a range of community, non-Government and private sector organisations. Visit  HYPERLINK "http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/scams/partners.asp" \o "http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/content/scams/partners.asp" http://www.scamwatch.gov.au for a list of Taskforce partners. Consumers who think theyve spotted a scam can check the SCAMWatch website at  HYPERLINK "http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/" www.scamwatch.gov.au which has detailed information about scams, or report a scam on 1300 795 995.     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