Residents are being asked to show continued vigilance as part of a national campaign to fight online fraud and other scams.
Credit unions, building societies and mutual banks are supporting National Consumer Fraud Week, an initiative of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce.
Holiday Coast Credit Union (HCCU) CEO Neville Parsons said the local community can be reassured that it takes online security very seriously and consumers can take simple measures to ensure they are also safe from scams.
“Consumer Fraud Week will increase aware-ness of the methods used in scams so the public can quickly identify them and “slam a scam’,” CEO Neville Parsons said.
“It’s critical that personal information is protected at all times as scammers can target people anywhere, any time, and use many crafty methods to achieve their goals.”
Scammers use a number of methods to attempt to defraud people, including a phone call or SMS out of the blue, a phishy email or “lucky’ letter, an unknown knock at the door or a strange request from an online friend or admirer.
To protect yourself against scammers, HCCU encourages its customers to be wary of suspicious emails, letters, house visits, phone calls or SMS and, instead, press “delete’, throw them out, shut the door or just hang up.
The education and awareness campaign also advises people to:
nBeware of sophis-ticated tricks like fake websites or scammers posing as a friend;
nBe aware that scammers will play on your emotions to get what they want;
nAt all times protect your private personal details away from scammers
“The safety and security of our members is paramount and the team at Holiday Coast Credit Union are always available to provide assistance to any member that feels that their identity or their accounts may have been compromised by a scam,” Mr Parsons concluded.
