Police are urging people not to give out their personal details or to transfer money to people they do not know, as Ballarat detectives investigate circumstances of community members being scammed out of large sums of money.
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The Ballarat Criminal Investigation Unit is actively working on several investigations regarding community members being tricked into sending money to scammers.
While some people have been scammed out of hundreds of dollars, others have been scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars.
The scams - which target people both on the phone and by email - are commonly perpetrated by people purporting to be from a bank, a phone company or the tax office.
Often the scammers ask for passwords or personal information to reset a service such as a bank account following 'suspicious activity', while other times they frighten people into sending money they owe to the tax office - saying that if they don't, then police would act on an arrest warrant.
No matter what the circumstances are, don't give out your passwords, remote access to computers or any personal information
- Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Argall
"No matter what the circumstances are, don't give out your passwords, remote access to computers or any personal information - just don't do it," the CIU's Detective Senior Sergeant Tim Argall said.
"Legitimate government agencies or banks will never cold call or email you and request that information."
Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said that if people were in any doubt about a situation, they shouldn't be afraid to be firm and ask for the person's name and the agency they work for.
They should then directly contact that agency and ensure the person legitimately works there.
Other common scams are 'romance scams'. While in no way a new type of scam, they are becoming more elaborate.
Known as 'catfishing', with initial contact often made through dating websites or social media, the scammers create fake profiles and often take on a persona of a person working in a trusted profession.
They will profess strong feelings for a person within a short period of time but are patient - often going to great lengths to build trust. Once this is established, the scammer will invent a scenario that they need money for.
From an American Marine deployed to the Middle East who was about to finish their service but needed money to move to Ballarat, to an ex-military pilot who had signed a contract with Jetstar and was about to move to Australia, there is no limit to their creativity.
In some cases the scammers ask for a large amount of money for an emergency in the first instance, before continuing to ask for more money for other situations which arise.
For example, the pilot needed $10,000 to have their American pilot's licence converted to an Australian licence first. Shortly afterwards, the scammer said the qualification wasn't recognised and so a further $5000 was needed to complete a course in New South Wales.
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Detective Senior Sergeant Argall said people should never give money to people they had not met in person, or any of their other personal information.
It can often be difficult for police to track down scammers, as they are often located overseas and hide their locations with VPNs.
Often the money is transferred into an account in a foreign country - where Victoria Police do not have formal agreements in place to work with the police there.
Scams can be reported directly to the organisation a scammer purported to be from or to the platform the scammer approached you on. Police can also be directly approached to make a report.
For more scam prevention tips , visit www.scamwatch.gov.au
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