MR CHOI ASKED THE MINISTER FOR TOURISM AND FAIR TRADING (MR LAWLOR) —
QUESTION:
With the increasing occurrence and sophistication of scams, will the Minister advise what he has done to warn Queenslanders about these scams?
ANSWER:
Scam attempts are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated, and the Bligh Government takes the threat to Queenslanders very seriously. It is estimated that 1 in 20 Australians will be scammed this year alone, resulting in a loss of around $1 billion.
Like most crimes, scams and fraud comes in all shapes and sizes. The most common scams affecting Queensland consumers right now are:
advanced fee fraud scams (better known as Nigerian 419 scams)
phishing and smishing scams (where criminals attempt to lure people through email or sms to provide their personal or banking information, or lead them to malicious websites that will download spyware onto their computer to steal these details)
door-to-door trades and sales persons, and
dating scams.
The Bligh Government takes action all year round to warn Queenslanders about the latest scams, provides avenues to report attempted or successful scams and provides advice on how to avoid falling victim to what can be very sophisticated attacks. These warnings are issued by both the Office of Fair Trading and its colleagues in the Queensland Police Service.
The Office of Fair Trading also has a dedicated section regarding scams on its website www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au for both consumers and businesses. It includes practical information on how to spot scams; how to protect yourself from scammers and how to report scams. It also has links to valuable information contained on partner agency websites such as the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce’s ‘Scam Watch’ website and the Federal Government’s ‘Stay Smart Online’ website.
One scam that is growing rapidly is identity theft using information found on social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace. Criminals use information such as names, dates of birth, places of work and schools attended to steal people’s identities and set up fake bank accounts or take out loans.
The Office of Fair Trading has taken steps to ensure Queensland’s youth, who are most at risk from this new threat, know about the risks and how to protect themselves. This includes using channels such as the media, e-newsletters and web-based warnings on Fair Trading’s ‘Get Out There!’ youth website, www.getoutthere.qld.gov.au.
During March 2010, the Office of Fair Trading sent information to subscribers of ‘Get out there!’ warning them of the threat and advising them how to use security settings to give themselves the best possible protection. In addition to individual subscribers, this information went to 150 subscriber schools for distribution to their students.
Another way the Queensland Government works to warn Queenslanders about scams is through strategic partnerships.
The Office of Fair Trading is an active member of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce, a group of 21 government regulatory agencies and departments in Australia and New Zealand with a jurisdictional or operational interest in fraud.
The highlight of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce calendar is the annual Consumer Fraud Awareness Week.
Fraud Week runs for seven days from the first Monday in March each year to coincide with the international Global Consumer Fraud Protection Month. The theme for this year’s campaign was ‘Online offensive – fighting fraud online’. For the campaign the Office of Fair Trading worked closely with the Queensland Police Service.
A dedicated ‘Protect yourself online’ section was added to the Fair Trading website to provide practical tips on how to work and play safely online.
The Office of Fair Trading also issued a special fraud edition of its Smart Business Bulletin, a bi-monthly e-newsletter sent to more than 30,000 Queensland businesses. The edition included information on common scams targeting businesses.
Despite efforts of agencies such as the Office of Fair Trading, scam activity continues and education and awareness activities will continue to be a strong focus of the Bligh Government to combat this issue.
