Flood Relief Appeal being targeted by scammers

The internet has provided many benefits for broadband users, but has also become a breeding ground for scam artists, as incident with the recent Flood Relief Appeal have proven.

For broadband users across Australia there have been many benefits, from educational and vocational benefits to entertainment, financial, and cultural opportunities. However, whilst the internet has become hugely important to most of us it is also a breeding ground for fraudsters and scam artists, which has been proven following incidents with the recent Flood Relief Appeal.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has now issues warnings to consumers about a scam that is being targeted towards this vital flood relief appeal. According to ACMA there are scammers and telemarketers that are trying to cash in on the appeal, and consumers need to be on their guard.

A number of reports and complaints have been made to ACMA with regards to potential scams relating to the flood relief scheme. ACMA has warned internet and broadband users to be wary of any request for assistance and donations that are received by email, as well as those received by SMS or phone. The agency also warned that many of these requests can come across as very official, so they can easily fool people. In some cases the actual content off government websites has been copied and used in the spam emails.

In order to identify these scam emails ACMA has warned broadband and internet users to look out for things such as emails from unknown and unofficial addresses, messages that contain poor grammar and spelling mistakes, and request to make donations via wire transfer.

Have you been targeted by one of these scams? Let us know with your comments

Source – ACMA