ONE of the latest online scams involves a fraudulent Facebook messenger account using the name of Flinders MP Greg Hunt.
Online fraudsters tell the victim they are in line for a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services. They say the grant is a financial aid program aiming to eradicate poverty and stabilise the economy.
The grant promises them “quite sizeable” sums of money on the proviso the victim clicks a link and agrees to pay processing fees, including a fund file fee, tax and clearance fee and a delivery fee.
All fees are in US dollars totalling $1305.
Similar scams purporting to be from the United Nations are also doing the rounds.
Older scams include an ATO impersonation scam, Help Me Catch-a-Hacker scam, and You Have a Federal Warrant scam.
Police say signs of a scam include anyone asking for payment using a gift card.
Other scams include being offered money for something not entered or applied for; being asked to pay first to receive something back; spelling errors or grammatical errors, such as: “We verify you information’s and it shows that you are qualify to receive the grant.”
Police say: “If they tell you not to tell anyone else about your windfall, or payment is requested via Western Union, it is a scam.”
Anyone unsure about the validity of something they have received should look up the phone number of the department/organisation, explain what has occurred and ask for clarification.
If in doubt just hang up or do not reply to a text or email. If it seems too good to be true then it probably is, police say.
Visit ACCC Scamwatch or ACORN Cybercrime Reporting online for more information.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 23 July 2019
