To those that live in Australia I received this SMS from (some mobile number) that claims to be from the Australian Government the link sends the user to a FAKE my gov site it looks and feels like the real thing but is trying to get your details so they can change your bank details to the scammers own or perhapss make false claims for money with your name. If you get one of these SMS DO NOT click on the link. It has been reported that scammers have taken Australians for over half a billion AUD in scams this past year. I have reported this scam to the Australian Government's scam watch. note: mygov is the website where Australians get money from the government for all sorts of support. So be very weary of scammer scum trying to take your hard earned money and personel details. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Today at 5:44 AM [My-Gov]: $1800.20 cannot be refunded to your account, please update your personal information to receive: (some fake my gov site) (some mobile number) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ takes you to a fake my gov login page
I never ever click links from emails or sms, I simply go to the actual website from my bookmarks and log in. The only time I do click links is when I expect them and they contain a direct link with the user ID so I can progress my interaction - pretty much like 2 factor authentication but I did it the other day for booking my windscreen to be repaired. If somebody ever calls/messages me asking for money, I tell them to come visit me and I'll pay them in cash, else they ain't getting sh!t from me. I never intend to be scammed again, ever since I got white van scammed, I don't trust anyone (even if they are actually trying to help me), I am happier to pay full price and be sure, than to take another gamble - that said I don't gamble at all (not even a dollar), ever since I heard it referred to as the idiot tax, it made sense to me that the only winners are the house and I hate any system that gains from other peoples loss. I have been volunteering every Friday at my local Online Centre, doing Laptop repairs and windows installs (of cause), but the amount of people that come in to reset their phones, change mygov logins, buy one of the laptops I refurbish because theirs was stolen, is just insane. some of them have lost many tens of thousands of dollars to being scammed or stolen from. I know my skills/time are worth a lot of money, but money has never motivated me, I am happier helping someone get more confidence in using their computer again and being a LastOS based mod, I am confident they will appreciate how much faster and easier their PC's/Laptops are when they get them back. Anyway, I just want people to learn that security and privacy are the same thing and protect them as such. Giving up either for the sake of simplicity or not making the time to learn, is negligence - but I also understand older and mentally challenged people aren't able to protect themselves. But for years we've all known to keep multiple backups in more than one location, yet even still most people aren't, or even worse they only have them on their phone - one drop/splash or failure later, they only have a few low quality photos backed up on google phones from before 2016 before the space ran out and they stopped syncing them and a couple more off facebook that are even lower quality. It really does suck that you can no longer trust people aren't going to take advantage of us, it used to be we would help each other out and lift each other up, but as it stands right now, you need to vet everyone you let into your life and get a 2nd opinion from someone already in your circle... as another story I heard was of a older lady who was speaking to a guy in "USA" <- (not really) and they needed money to finally come down to Australia to see them in person - the problem being this is the 3rd time they've needed some money towards getting here... I couldn't sleep at night if I took anything away from others, either financially or security/safety/trust, but many people are obviously able to. BTW I don't do voice calls on the phone (maybe twice a year at most), having Autism means I find it way too hard to communicate in real time without being in person. That and people don't get my jokes 99% of the time and think I am being serious or rude etc. So I now refuse to even try. My volume level is very low and my ringtone sounds like a baby's mobile (very hard to hear at all), I only look to see who is ringing and 99.9% of the time I'll get to messaging them back instead.
I find it funny that scammers targeting those of us in the US always claim to be in Africa or Europe trying to get back to the US, while those targeting those of you "down under" claim to be in the US trying to get back to where you are. My wife fell prey to a scammer earlier in the year. She's just too sweet and trusting and had a very hard time believing that what they were telling her wasn't true.
there was a segment on the news where an old man with dementia who lost $250,000 AUD to scammer sscum by getting hold of his bank details and then the bank suspended his account for suspicious activity and the scammers got him to reopen his account so they could take more money. Basketball players.
