5/31/2023 0 Comments Wal parcel tracking scamScammers also commonly pose as military personnel who need to sell their cars on the cheap due to an impending deployment: "And they usually say they're in Darwin or something so you can't actually come and see the car," says Ms Rickard. We've even seen people pay more for COVID-safe crates for the dogs." ![]() "Then they'll say, 'due to border closures there are extra transport costs'. "There'll be an initial price for the puppy, around $7,000 or $8,000, and then they'll say they need money for insurance for vaccinations for the pup, which will be an extra cost," she says. Some scammers will ask for payment - and that's particularly common with puppies and vehicles, which are often advertised on popular forums such as Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree, says Ms Rickard. Read more Some (but not all) will ask for payment Or send a completely different item "where you order some expensive thing and you get a pair of socks or a baseball hat", says Ms Rickard. Some scammers will also advertise a premium product but send a poor-quality version. Generally, they're items that have become more in demand since the pandemic hit - such as puppies, caravans, or shipping containers intended for use as granny flats or backyard offices, says Ms Rickard. Other shopping scams involve soliciting money for advertised items that don't actually exist. The scammers are hoping you'll let them know personal details including your first and last name, your full address, your phone number - so they can use that information to hack your online accounts. "Usually they're looking to build out a dossier on the people who do click on these links," says Mr Bugal. These parcel post scams generally invite victims to click a link - which tend to lead to fraudulent 'interactive parcel management systems' designed to steal personal and financial information. We're all in some pretty hard lockdowns really, and we're all ordering more online." The most common victims of these scams are women and people under 35, she adds. ![]() Shopping scams alone made up more than $62.1 million in losses last year - although in reality the losses are probably much higher "as most victims don't report these scams", says Ms Rickard. "We've certainly seen a rise in online shopping scams" since COVID and lockdowns began, says deputy chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Delia Rickard.Īustralians lost a record amount to scams - more than $851 million - in 2020, as scammers took advantage of the pandemic and its associate increase in online shopping, the ACCC says. Shopping and delivery scams on the rise during COVID She deleted the email - narrowly avoiding a popular scam that's been doing the rounds. The email said a package for her was waiting at a local distribution centre, and prompted her to click on a link to "start chat" about delivery arrangements.īut when Alison, 51, from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, noticed the sender was 'Australian Post' rather than 'Australia Post', alarm bells began to ring. When Alison Barnes opened an email this week claiming to be from Australia Post, she realised it was "all a bit dodgy".
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