Keep a step ahead of scammers

To coincide with Scam Awareness Week, from 25–29 August, National Seniors Australia (NSA) has released new resources to help older Australians protect themselves against scammers.  

NSA chief executive officer, Chris Grice, said older Australians are targeted by scammers due to their perceived vulnerability and belief they may have substantial life savings.  

According to ScamWatch, in 2024, Australians aged 65+ reported more than 62,000 scams with a total loss of $99.6 million. Investment, romance, and phishing scams incurred the greatest losses. For these scams, email, text message, and phone call were the top three contact methods scammers used. 

“The losses to scams are devastating,” Chris said. “Not only financial but also emotional. When a person falls victim to a scam, it is incredibly upsetting and can shake confidence, reduce trust, and have consequences long after money has been stolen.  

“Digital literacy and keeping one step ahead of the scammers is key to staying safe online.  

“As part of NSA’s Keep Scam SAFE campaign, we have released three new resources to help older Australians identify and protect against scams. These include downloadable and printable mini checklists that cover what to look for when encountering a suspicious website, email, or phone call.  

“With reminders to look out for such as, “Does the website fail to display https in the URL?” “Is the email grammatically incorrect?” and “Does the caller pressure you for immediate action?”, the resources provide a handy reminder at a time when people may feel pressured and flustered.” 

It’s a situation 61-year-old Pamela Townend knows all too well. Pamela recently received a call from a scammer who tried to convince her that her IP addressed had been compromised and pressured her to download a link to fix it.  

“The call came while I was working and pre-occupied. My initial reaction was to do what I needed to do to fix it. But I became suspicious quickly because of the pressure the caller put on me to immediately download a link,” she said. 

“He was aggressive, persistent, and had an answer for every question I asked. He even had the hide to tell me that I would be at risk of scammers if I didn’t take action!  

“I like to think I’m tech savvy and not easily fooled but the aggressive nature of the call really rattled me. I ended up handing up on the call and then called a family member to share what happened. While I wasn’t scammed, I can understand how others in a similar situation may feel the pressure to act and could be.”