Scams cost Australian consumers, businesses, and the economy hundreds of millions of dollars each year and cause serious emotional harm to victims and their families.  The recent hijacking of Optus by a seemingly unsophistocated hacker highlights the need for vigilance.  This hack shows how easy it can be to access personal information that businesses have a legal responsibility to protect.  It’s our responsibility, however, to remain alert.

Do you know how to identify an online scam, or have you been a victim of an online scam?

You can check by using entering your email or phone number into the “Have I Been Pawned” website at www.haveIbeenpawnd.com   While you should not click on embeded links that you are not sure of, you can enter the URL into your web browser to access the site.

Also visit the Commonwealth Government’s Scam Watch at https://scamwatch.gov.au website and visit the Australian Cyber Security Centre website at https://acsc.gov.au for more information.

Visit those links for information on what online scams are, what are the latest online scams and how you can take evasive action to avoid being scammed.