WIMMERA police have urged vigilance after a spate of scam activity was reported.
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Kaniva Sergeant Darren Wright said multiple residents had contacted police to report receiving fraudulent messages and calls.
“The community needs to be mindful that they are out there,” he said.
“Unfortunately things that sound too good to be true generally are. We encourage people to be wary and not commit information to unknown sources.
“We’ve had a few people come in to say they are getting calls saying that if they don’t answer or respond, an arrest warrant will be issued.
“If people are unsure about a call they have received, they can contact the police or seek online support and guidance through Scamwatch to help assist other people and help shut down these scams.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which runs the Scamwatch site, issued a warning about Christmas scams this week.
They said scammers would take advantage of special days or major events like Christmas to fleece people of their money or personal information.
The commission’s deputy chair Delia Rickard said Scamwatch had also received a massive influx of reports where people had lost money to tax scams.
“This isn’t a usual holiday season scam, however a lot of people are getting calls from scammers pretending to be from the tax office or the police and threatening them with arrest over unpaid tax debts,” she said.
“This is a scam. If you ever get a call or email containing threats like this, hang up the phone or delete the email.”
Ms Rickard said three common scams people should look out for at this time of year were:
- Online shopping scams: scammers will set up fake online stores or post goods for sale in buy‑swap-sell groups or online classified sites to trick people into buying items that do not exist.
- Travel scams: scammers trick people into believing they have won a holiday or scored a deal on a travel package, like a cruise.
- Parcel delivery scams: scammers might ask people to print off a label, do a survey, claim a prize, or view the status of their delivery by clicking on a link or downloading an attachment. Some scammers might even call or text with claims about an unsuccessful delivery. These scams are aimed at getting people to download malware onto their computer, or give up their personal information.