The rising threat of scams and how to protect yourself

1 November 2023

Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated scams to steal money. It’s important to always be aware and vigilant to the threats.

Australians reported a record $3.1 billion lost to scams in 2022, according to the Australian Government ¹. That was an 80% increase in the amount lost to scams in 2021.

Scams Awareness Week, 27 November 2023

For many people, superannuation is their biggest investment. It can also be an attractive target for criminals running scams. As you grow your super, it is important to always remain vigilant about the threat of scams.

Scams Awareness Week is 27 November to 1 December 2023. It’s the Australian Government’s annual scams awareness and education campaign. This year’s campaign is being delivered by the new National Anti-Scam Centre, launched in July 2023 to coordinate the Government’s fight against scams.

The theme for this year’s campaign is ‘impersonation scams’. The Government says that approximately 80% of all scams reported to its Scamwatch include some form of impersonation of a legitimate organisation or brand ².

For the latest information on how to protect yourself from scams, we recommend that our members visit these Government websites associated with Scam Awareness Week:

• Scams Awareness Week
• Scamwatch
• National Anti-Scam Centre

Examples of scams and how to protect yourself

Scammers keep finding new ways to trick their unsuspecting target over email, social media, websites, SMS or phone. It’s important to stay ahead of the scammers, learn about the dangers and stay vigilant.

Superannuation is a particularly attractive target, so below are some examples of common scams and tips on protecting yourself.

1. Scammers pretending to be a financial adviser

Scammers often offer to help people withdraw money from their superannuation, often through self-managed funds or for a fee. They may do this by pretending to be a financial adviser, gaining your trust to access your superannuation account on your behalf. In many cases, they will set up fake companies and attempt to transfer super balances into their own account.

Remember, you are unable by law to access your superannuation unless you satisfy a condition of release. Anyone who is advising you otherwise is acting illegally.

Tips on staying safe:

• Never give any information about your superannuation to anyone who has contacted you.
• Never share your password for your superannuation account, or any other secure services such as your bank account or myGov account (for Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink).
• Financial advisers must have a license, which you can check on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's (ASIC) website.
• The ASIC website also helps you check to see if an adviser has been banned or disqualified.
• Stay ahead of the scammers and find out more about the conditions of release for your superannuation:
  • Accessing Your Superannuation Info Sheet.
  • Your account’s Product Disclosure Statement.

2. Phishing scams

Phishing scams are attempts to request personal information, by email, online or phone. They may pretend to be from your superannuation fund, bank or other financial service providers that you know.

These scams can look genuine, with the correct logo and branding. They can take you to a fake website whose web address is very similar to the real organisation’s website.

Tips on staying safe:

• Stay clear of emails and messages promoting ways to access your superannuation and invest it in lucrative investment opportunities, such as property and self-managed funds.
• Do not click on links or attachments in emails or messages claiming to be from a trusted organisation and asking you to verify or update your details.
• Be wary of websites asking for information which do not have the secure padlock symbol or ‘https’ in the web browser bar – both are needed if you are entering personal information.
• Look for mistakes in emails and messages claiming to be from trusted organisations. You may spot one of these warning signs:
  • Not using your name in the greeting at the start of the message.
  • Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.
  • Slight differences in email address and website address.

3. Tax time SMS, email and social media scams

According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), there is an increase in scammers pretending to be the ATO³, sending people SMS or emails asking them to log into a fake MyGov account. These fraudulent web pages are designed to steal people’s usernames and passwords.

The SMS or emails will try and trick you into opening the link through claims such as:

• ‘You have an ATO notification’.
• ‘We need to update your details to allow your tax return to be processed’.
• ‘ATO refund failed due to incorrect BSB/Account number’.

There is also an increase in fake social media accounts impersonating the ATO, asking people to send them a direct message so they can help with their enquiry.

Tips on staying safe:

• Do not open any links or provide the information requested.
• Organisations such as the ATO tend not to send SMS or emails with links to their online services.
• If in doubt, type the organisation’s web address into your browser, such as ato.gov.au or my.gov.au
• Make sure any email addresses provided to you end with ‘.gov.au’.
• For social media, check how many people are following the account.

For example, the ATO has 282,000 followers on Facebook and 234,000 followers on LinkedIn (as at October 2023). If you notice the ATO account has a smaller number of followers, then it’s highly likely that it’s a fake account.

See at the end of this article for details on how you can report a scam.

Stay informed, stay safe

There are a number of Australian Government websites that provide information and resources to help protect yourself from superannuation scams:

• National Anti-Scam Centre
• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
• Scamwatch
• Moneysmart
• Australian Taxation Office (ATO)

Brighter Super has added more protection to your account

Since March 2023, whenever you log in to your Brighter Super account in Member Online, you must confirm a code that we send to you by SMS or email.

This is Multi-Factor Authentication, which gives your account two layers of protection – your password and a one-time code. This security feature is a mandatory setting for all members’ accounts.

If your account doesn’t currently list your email address or mobile number, you will not be able to log in to Member Online or our mobile app. To make sure you have access, you can update your contact details by calling us on 1800 444 396.

Reporting scams or fraudulent activity

If you have any concerns about your account, or identify any unusual activity, please contact us on 1800 444 396 as soon as possible. You can also report any scams you receive to the below Government agencies. Information on how to do this is available on their websites.

• Scamwatch: report a scam
• Australian Cyber Security Centre: report a cybercrime
• ATO: report a scam form