SA:Scammers sharpen skills with social media

AAP General News (Australia)
08-14-2011
SA:Scammers sharpen skills with social media

ADELAIDE, Aug 14 AAP - Social media, such as Facebook, is making it easier for scammers
to dupe their victims, South Australian Consumer Affairs Minister Gail Gago says.

Ms Gago said scammers were becoming more sophisticated than ever before and were using
the internet and social media to disguise themselves as legitimate companies or individuals.

The minister said while the number of scams reported to Consumer and Business Services
in SA had dropped in the past financial year, the methods used to target victims were
more advanced.

"Social media has played a role in enabling scammers to disguise themselves as legitimate
companies or individuals to persuade victims to hand over money or personal details,"

Ms Gago said in a statement.

"Scammers then use these details for fraudulent purposes and can often leave consumers
out of pocket.

"With more consumers purchasing goods online, there now is a greater risk that a consumer
could become a victim of identity theft.

"Scammers use this as an opportunity to offer non-existent goods ranging from puppy
dogs to motor vehicles to con unsuspecting customers."

The most popular scams in South Australia over the past year included computer virus
checks - where callers try to convince people their computer is infected, the Nigerian
and similar scams - where people are promised huge rewards for helping the transfer of
money and overseas lotteries - where emails suggest people have won a major prize and
a payment is required to release the cash.

Ms Gago said consumers should never give out credit card, online account information
or other personal details over the phone to people they don't know.

"Remember that scammers target all sorts of people and they can be difficult to spot
as they often appear as genuine business people," she said.

"If something seems too good to be true, it most likely is."

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KEYWORD: SCAMS (WITH FACTBOX)

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