April 15, 2007
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NEWS: Transaction Fraud Drains Aussies
Far too many Australian consumers, but especially the elderly, are still becoming victims of illegal lottery operations, said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last week. The elderly are unfortunately just more commonly conned into blithely turning over bank account details to scamsters. Foreign lottery mail-outs are a particularly popular (and pervasive) permutation of the scams that target seniors, which bombard them with messages of winning and "think of what you can do for your grandchildren." ACCC deputy chairwoman Louise Sylvan said that these sentimental messages lure the elderly more often than not, and that their high rate of success proves the need for education among this age group.
Transaction fraud costs Australia a stunning $1.1 billion annually, and the reports of it occurring just keep happening. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has recently sent out warnings of a mail scam, originating in Spain, which masquerades as the government lottery agency El Gordo. This scam has already tricked numbers of Aussies into turning over cash to pay "fees" associated with their (nonexistent, of course) lottery winnings.. A Nigerian email scam is being investigated by Queensland police after consumers were compelled to provide bank account details so that they could join so-called secret oil ventures. The Australasian Consumer Fraud Task Force, made up of 18 legislative bodies in Australia and New Zealand, is launching an information campaign to safeguard the public about identity fraud and scams.