Identity fraud, privacy violations, and internet frauds, oh dear! Every year, a catastrophic wave of fraud floods the country, claiming the lives of many victims in Australia due to the lack of information and people not opting for a professional financial planner in Sydney for good financial advice. However, new and better innovation just helps scammers, making it possible than before for them to steal banking details from unwitting users.
1) Don’t ever send money to someone you don’t know.
Everyone must have probably received a strange email from someone that claims to know and have a connection with you, having a strange tragedy wired to their story of either their close ones passing away, leaving them with wealthy goods. These types of emails are designed in a way to woo the readers into being excited to reach out to the sender while giving out personal data to gain something. These situations only backfire, making it a scam. NEVER send money to someone you don’t know. Once you’ve stepped into the scamming situation and give in (especially international transactions ), it’s systemic in a way that the transaction cannot be reversed back to the sender, which makes it a very big loss for the victim itself. Before taking any action, it’s always best to reach out to the person that claims to be your relative personally to double-check if the situation did take place; this would give you peace of mind and clarity about the situation.
2) Don’t share your financial data with anyone.
Never give out important financial information to an unknown person or company, no matter the source they’ve contacted you from. Scammers work to impersonate the central body or an organization or even your very own bank for that matter while making up a fake scenario that is meant to get you anxious and take an action that would lead you to give out details. These scammers would make you anxious by stating that your very own new account has been hacked or jailbroken through an external source and would get information out of your sensitive state. There’s always a higher probability of it being a phishing scam and a lower probability of it being genuine. To be on the safer side, it’s always best to get some recheck with the call and ask them which account and data about it that only the bank and you are meant to know; this way, the phisher would not be able to reveal the accurate data for obvious reasons and if the call isn’t genuine, you’d know.
3) Look out for hyperlinks and redirecting sources
If you’re a victim of an anonymous email stating that you’ve won a lottery in Australia or that if you click on a certain link or attachment, you will receive a thousand dollars, it’s a red flag!!
Deleting these emails permanently could eliminate the chances of a hacker trying to hack your system through unnecessary redirecting pages or malware.
Always delete these emails and know that genuine companies and sources don’t send out emails that ask you to download or redirect you to multiple sites.
4) Complicated passwords with different characters are the way to go!
Complicated passwords with multiple characters and special keys are not only hard but nearly impossible for a professional scammer to crack, this way, your details would be safe and would eliminate the chances of you being a victim of an unnecessary financial scam.
5) Do not be open to investment in anonymous online shops
Investing in a great source towards getting great returns, but investing to the point where you are available and open to investment through all doors is wrong. Unknown websites and companies with unknown startups have a lower probability for an on-time payback, making it a risky source of investment and a higher chance of it being a scam or a bad debt. It’s always best to consult with a financial planner in Sydney before making important financial decisions if you look forward to good returns at the end of the day.