Impersonation scams
Taking someone's identity or posing as a popular organisation and asking for something, such as personal information or money.
Hi Mum
Scammers pose as children or other loved ones in a state of distress to con their parents or guardians into parting with their money. The fraudsters use many channels, including SMS, WhatsApp, and even artificial intelligence voice cloning, to trick victims into giving them personal information or transferring funds to their bank accounts.
Business Email Compromise (BEC)
Business Email Compromise (BEC) is a scam that hackers use to exploit business emails posing as company leaders or trusted partners and send convincing emails asking for payment or sensitive information. Fraudsters can deceive employees into transferring funds, sharing private information, or accessing sensitive data.
Bank scams
It is possible for scammers to pose as your bank when they call or text you. They can even send you SMS messages that seem like real ones. They will create a convincing story to get you to act. They might request personal information from you or tell you to click on a link in order to confirm your account. Additionally, in order to protect your money from suspected fraud, they might urge you to move funds to another account or make an instant payment.
Card collection scam
Scammers are calling people and pretending to be from a trusted organisation like a bank, IT company or phone company. They will say your bank accounts or computers aren’t secure and your money isn’t safe. They will ask for your PIN and tell you to leave your bank card in your letterbox so it can be cancelled and replaced. They may ask you to withdraw cash and leave that in the letterbox instead, or they may pick it up from you directly.
Government impersonation scams
Government impersonation scams are where criminals impersonate government agencies, regulators, or law enforcement to trick victims into giving up personal information or money. These can be quite tricky to spot and often ramp up around the end of the financial year. The NSW Government is currently aware of several scams circulating using Revenue NSW and Service NSW branding.
You can learn more about these via our Government impersonation scams page.
To report a scam or get further information on this type of scam, visit Scamwatch.