POLICE warned the community to stay vigilant as scammers find new and inventive methods.
A new scam reported in the community, dubbed “Hey mum”, texts people with the persona of a child asking for money to get home, with the excuse that their phone is out of power.
Swan Hill Police Acting Inspector Brian Hansen said to be completely sure of the identity of the person on the other end before making an online transaction.
“It’s really hard with the advancement of technology to keep up with all the new ways scammers are convincing people they’re the real deal,” he said.
“Ask questions to verify who you’re talking to, questions that only that person would know the answer to, and they will likely hang up because they won’t know the answer.
“If something doesn’t feel right or you’re having doubts, follow your gut instinct.”
Mr Hansen said scammed money would almost always be transferred overseas and it was very hard for police to recover it or find the scammer.
“There’s not much you can do if you’ve made a transfer but come to the police station and we will file a report so we can build an intelligence base of these scams and get awareness into the community,” he said.
“Go to your bank immediately and hopefully they can stop the transfer or give you a partial reimbursement and write it off as a loss.”
According to Scamwatch, Victorians lost more than $100 million in scams in 2023.
IDCARE is the Australian national identity and cyber support service and can help victims make a plan to limit the damage.
Contact IDCARE at 1800 595 160 or www.idcare.org.
More information about how to protect yourself from scams is available at scamwatch.gov.au
