😈Scams😈

What are scams?

A scam is an illegal trick. Scams usually try to get money illegally from people. A scam is a type of fraud.

Scams target people of all backgrounds, ages and income levels across Australia. All of us may be vulnerable to a scam at some time.

Scams succeed because they look like the real thing and catch you off guard when you’re not expecting it. Scammers are getting smarter. They take advantage of new technology, new products or services and major events to create believable stories that will convince you to give them your money or personal information.

Job Scams

Cybercriminals are targeting students eager for work with fraudulent job offerings that attempt to steal sensitive information or request funds in the form of cash transfers, Bitcoin payments, or gift cards.

Crafty scammers can use sophisticated technology to create realistic communications that can fool you. We understand that identifying the legitimacy of an email can be difficult, especially when scammers can hack or mimic UIC email addresses. However, students can look for these red flags to help determine its validity.

• Too good to be true – The job’s description is usually vague and will offer a large amount of money for very little work.
• Written poorly – The emails are usually full of typos, not written in professional language and use very casual greetings or closing words.
• Ask for sensitive data – Scammers may ask you to purchase something, provide them with sensitive data or personal bank account information through a link, fake webpage, or an online “job” application.
• Request money, gift cards or fund transfers – Scammers will email you a check to print, ask that you deposit it in your bank account, and send funds back via bank transfer, gift cards or Bitcoin. This should be an immediate red flag. The checks are fraudulent and you may be stuck with bank fees and headaches.
• Ask to use another email – You may be asked to contact individuals through a non-university email such as a Hotmail or Gmail address. Scammers are also not available to speak on the phone if you ask to call them

Types of scams

Impersonation scam

Threat-based impersonation scams are common and can be traumatic for the victim. Typically, scammers pretend to be from a well-known trusted business, government department or organisation and they threaten you into handing over your money or personal details.

Participants have reported receiving calls from scammers pretending to be from the NDIA. The scammers will usually claim that there is a debt against your plan and that you will lose access to the NDIS if you don’t provide them with personal information including bank details, addresses, and Medicare details. They may also ask participants to repay these ‘debts’.

The call can sometimes appear to come from a legitimate provider. Scammers can sometimes ‘spoof’ a provider’s phone number and it will show up on your phone. Sometimes these calls will come from a private number.

The NDIA will never call you and threaten to cancel your access to the NDIS because of a debt.

Invoicing scams

Scammers will sometimes send false invoices via email. These emails will often look like the real thing and will ask you to pay an invoice into an account that is different to the usual account you pay money into.

If you receive one of these emails, you should call your provider and ask them whether they sent this email. If they didn’t, you should report it to us.

If you have accidentally paid the invoice, you should also:

• change your email account passwords
• contact your bank or financial institution and report the scam
• ask your bank whether they can reverse the payment, freeze the scam account and/or recover the funds
• check your NDIS records for any other unauthorised payments, withdrawals or Update.

Phishing scams

Phishing is a way that cybercriminals steal confidential information such as online banking logins, credit card details, business login credentials or passwords/passphrases.

They do this by sending fraudulent messages and emails (sometimes called ‘lures’).

Some phishing scams will claim to provide information on how to protect yourself against COVID-19, or how to claim a payment. If you click the link or open a document, a virus or malware will start to collect your personal information and data.

Phishing scams often impersonate government departments including the NDIA, Department of Health, Services Australia and the Australian Taxation Office.

Charity scams

Some scammers will contact you via phone, mail, email or face-to-face and pretend to be a charity. Often these messages will look like they real thing, but then they will ask you to click on a link, make a payment or provide personal information.

Before you donate to any charity you should always check if they are registered charity with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission Charity Register.

Unauthorised access

Scammers who have accessed your information illegally may use that information to make false claims against your Plan.

Report a scam

The ACCC provides information to Australians about how to recognise, avoid and report scams.
To report a scam, visit Scamwatch.
If a scammer contacts you pretending to an employee of the NDIA or an NDIS provider, you should report it to us by:

• filling in our online tip-off form
• this will assist the Agency in getting the important information we need to follow up properly and quickly
• you will receive a reference ID once you have submitted the tip-off
• if you need help completing the online tip-off form you can call the NDIS Fraud Reporting and Scams Helpline on 1800 650 717.
• emailing fraudreporting@ndis.gov.au