Don't Fall For These Mobile Scams! | Catch Connect’s Tips

Unless you don’t have a phone, it’s likely that you’ve been the target of a mobile scam in your lifetime. The honest truth is that phone scamming is a massive business, one void of morals and with a single goal: to take your money. Every year tens of thousands of ordinary Australian citizens fall prey to these scammers, losing collectively millions of dollars. With all this in mind, it’s time to start considering how you can avoid falling victim to a scam. Catch Connect is going to give you some tips to ensure you don’t fall for these mobile scams! So, let’s get started.

Types of Scams

- Personal Information Scam - A lot of scams revolve around identity theft. The point is to trick users into revealing personal information, which they can then use to commit fraud. This could be anything from opening bank accounts using your credit card, etc.

- Buying/Selling Scams - A buying or selling scam targets a business or consumers through acts of selling products or services or purchasing them. These transactions are often illegitimate.

- Imitation Scams - By posing as someone the person knows, they can trick you into sending immediate payments before you’re even aware they did it.

- Fraudulent Charities Scam - It can be extremely easy to get hoodwinked by a fake charity or organisation. By playing to your emotions, they convince you that they’re looking for donations to help someone and when you fall for it, that money is gone and isn’t used for charity at all.

- Investment Scam - These are becoming extremely pervasive as everyone wants to learn how to invest and benefit from trading. However, this naivety surrounding the practice of investing means it’s easy to fall prey to dodgy trading

- Threat Scam - This could be done through the use of texts or calls from ‘government agencies with the hope of getting you to pay fraudulent bills for various services. This could be electrical, water, etc.

- Unexpected Winnings Scam - An old method of scamming that still proves effective is the ‘you’ve won $X.’ Still, in order to claim your winnings, you need to provide account details or prompt you to click on a link.

- Dangerous Links Scam - Through the use of ‘spoofing’ tools, you’ll receive texts which appear to have come from the device itself. When you open the link, it copies your data, therefore giving it to a scammer.

Resources To Keep You Up To Date On Scamming Methods

There are several sites dedicated to helping you avoid scams in Australia. You can find these resources at the following sites:

Communications.gov.au

Cyber.gov.au

Scamwatch.gov.au

Additionally, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has published a Little Black Book of Scams which details phone calls, texts, and other mobile scams. This is an extremely helpful guide to ensure you’re 100% aware of what threats are, just a call or text away.

How To Block Unwanted or Suspicious Calls/Texts For Androids

One of the most effective ways to deal with suspicious or unwanted calls and texts is to block the numbers. So if you receive texts or calls that are suspicious, block the numbers and repeat this whenever necessary. There are also apps available specifically for blocking calls and text messages. Apps like TruCaller use a community-based approach where people can report numbers allowing TruCaller to flag them as spam and act accordingly. They’re not the only service that does this, so review the options and choose one that works for you.

How To Block Unwanted or Suspicious Calls/Texts For iPhones

For iPhones, you can still use apps like TruCaller to block spam and telemarketing calls. Still, you’re also able to silence unknown numbers. This can be tricky if you’re someone in business who has to answer the phone, but perfect for those who speak to people whose numbers are saved. The calls will be silenced, and the caller will have the option to leave a voicemail message which you can review at a later time.

To block numbers on your iPhone, just go to your call log and click the ‘I’ for information. Then, inside the number and call info, you’ll be able to block the number.

When blocking numbers that have texted you, you’re going to want to open the message, tap the ‘headshot’ at the top, go into the information, and block the number.

How To Block Unwanted or Suspicious Calls/Texts For Landlines

Landlines aren’t as common as they once were, but that doesn’t mean they no longer exist at all. A landline can have anti-scam features. There are built-in anti-scam features offered by some phone companies and models. These features include ‘announce’ mode, which requires the caller to announce themselves and click #. This filters out the autodiallers that scam callers use.

Risk Reduction Techniques

Here are some ways to reduce the risk of being caught off guard by scams:

- Always embrace a sceptical attitude towards texts and calls that seem odd. Stick to the motto, ‘if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.’

- Know the people you’re communicating with as much as possible.

- Never open links sent via text or email unless you know the person and are sure it’s safe to proceed.

- Use apps that screen calls ahead of time, so you know who’s calling

- Never share your personal information, and keep important documents protected in encrypted files, safes (for physical information), or shredded (for bank statements).

- Embrace password protection on all devices

- Be wary of strange payment requests or payments received that you didn’t anticipate.

- Be careful when online shopping to use trusted vendors for credit card information.

Conclusion

Scams aren’t going anywhere, and that’s a reality we have to live with. However, you’re able to keep yourself safe if you stay vigilant and wary of strange things received over text, email, or odd phone calls.

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