Police are advising members of the community to be wary of a 44-year-old male who is borrowing money from people on the promise of a quick return.
The male initially ingratiates himself with business people and shortly thereafter gives them a hard luck story about waiting for funds to be cleared/transferred and has no money for fuel for his car and to feed his children, Police said.
The amount is $50 to $100 to be paid back the next day.
Whilst it is not an offence to ask people for money, Police remind the community to advise the borrower to try the usual charities that can assist with vouchers.
Meanwhile Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo has warned the community to be alert to tax related scams in the lead-up to tax time.
“During the busy tax season, scammers will try to catch you off guard using phone calls, letters, text messages, emails, bogus websites and even false job advertisements to trick you into providing your personal details and pay money.
“We are aware of a current telephone scam operating where a person claiming to be from the ATO or “Taxation Department” calls offering you a grant of $7000 if you pay $200.
“If you need to confirm someone is calling from the ATO, call 13 28 61.”
Member for Port Macquarie, Leslie Williams, is also warning residents to protect their credit card details at all times to help prevent people from accessing their money.
Mrs Williams said the warning comes as more and more reports of credit card fraud surface, with a number of local residents being affected.
“My office has received a number of reports recently that people are being targeted by having their credit cards accessed by people overseas or interstate.
“Fraudsters attempt to make small purchases and, if successful, they then make a larger purchase before the financial institution can cancel the transactions,” Mrs Williams said.
“In one recent case, a Port Macquarie man used his credit card locally and then five hours later, the card was used in Japan. His bank quickly realised that it was impossible to be in the two locations and contacted their customer.
“Another resident returned to Australia after a holiday in Malaysia, when his credit card details continued to be accessed overseas. In both cases, the bank credited the customers.
“Unfortunately, this kind of activity is on the increase, with millions of dollars stolen in credit card or on-line fraud in Australia each year,” Mrs Williams said.
“There are some simple ways to avoid being the victim of credit card fraud, including never to lose sight of the card when making a transaction, looking out for suspicious devices at ATMs and keeping all of your receipts and checking your bank statements.”
