STOP. Check. Protect.
The first significant scam I recall hearing that was ‘close to home’ – meaning I knew the person involved – involved a resident in a retirement village.
They received a call from ‘the bank’. They were concerned about transactions on the resident’s card and wanted to ‘check they had the right credit card details on file.’
Now, you read that and put two and two together. This didn’t end well, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. This was close to 10 years ago.
We are all al little older. A little more aware. But then so are those on the other end of the scam.
In 2025, Scam Awareness Week is from 25-29 August and this year it is about empowering all Australians with the theme of ‘Stop, Check, Protect.’
The week is a collaborative effort between government, business, community groups, consumer protection groups, educational organisations and individuals to promote scam awareness.
Everyone has a part to play in shutting down scammers.
A few months ago we were joined by ComWire and NSB Cyber to talk Cyber security. Scams were a big part of the conversation with ComWire Co-Founder, Lee Shrimpton sharing over 87,000 cybercrimes were reported in 2023-24. That’s one every 6 minutes.
What can we do?
This is the question we get quite a lot.
If a resident tells you they’ve been scammed, first and foremost we need to listen – without judgement. We do not need to be the experts in this space.
We can be there to support the resident and guide them through the process – which starts with reporting what happened to Scamwatch and, if appropriate, the police.
Taking an approach that is calm and practical will help restore their sense of safety, support and control at a time when they are likely struggling with all those things alongside feelings of anger, frustration, helplessness, and more.
This is also where this year’s theme can be useful to us, as a tool.
Stop. Check. Protect.
The National Anti-Scams Centre (NASC) recently introduced the ‘Stop.Check. Protect.’ call to action.
It provides a set of simple, memorable steps that anyone can take to spot and avoid scams. The consumers we spoke with found this to be an empowering set of instructions.
The messaging framework has been developed to offer flexibility and the steps cover a range of protective actions which organisations can adjust to align with their own business objectives and focus areas.
For more information
Visit the Scamwatch website: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/
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