The 18 scam types doing the rounds

Emails or messages that impersonate a trusted organisation — your bank, the ATO, Telstra, AusPost — to steal your login details or card number.

• Urgent warnings about a compromised account or missed payment
• Links that don't match the real website when you hover
• Generic greetings like 'Dear customer'
• Requests for passwords, codes, or card details via message

Criminals use stolen personal details to take over your accounts, open credit in your name, or apply for loans and government payments.

• Statements or bills for accounts you never opened
• Password reset emails you didn't request
• Missing money or unfamiliar transactions
• Credit checks you didn't authorise

Scammers hack or spoof a business email — often the boss's or a supplier's — and trick staff into changing bank details or paying fake invoices.

• A supplier suddenly changes their payment details
• Urgent invoice payments that must be done today
• Emails from lookalike domains (one letter off)
• 'The boss' asking for secrecy or gift cards

Fake listings, buyers who 'overpay' and demand a refund, fake escrow services, and sellers who disappear after you pay on marketplace sites.

• Price far below market value
• Buyer insists on paying via a link you must click
• Overpayment then a refund request
• 'Use my courier' or 'authenticate the sale' through a third-party site

Fake charities and emergency appeals — especially after natural disasters — that collect donations that never reach anyone in need.

• Pressure to donate right now
• Requests for gift cards, cash, or crypto
• No registered charity number (check the ACNC register)
• Unsolicited links to 'donation pages'

The catch-all inbox menace: malicious attachments, invoice fraud, ransomware, and fake 'account suspension' emails designed to get you to click or pay.

• Unexpected attachments or links in cold emails
• Spoofed sender names that hide the real address
• Threats or deadlines engineered to rush you
• Grammar and spelling slips from 'official' senders

Rigged betting platforms, 'guaranteed' tipster services, and fake racing or sports syndicates that take your money and disappear.

• Guaranteed wins or 'system' profits
• Unsolicited tips or 'inside information'
• Pressure to download an app or join a private group
• Withdrawal requests that never get paid

Door-to-door 'tradies', bogus charity collectors, fake couriers, and card skimmers — the old-school scams that still work because they're face to face.

• Unsolicited doorstep work with cash-only demands
• No licence or ABN and no written quote
• Payment only by cash or instant transfer
• Stories of a 'job just around the corner' needing materials now

Fake trading platforms, crypto schemes, Ponzi structures, and 'financial advisors' promising returns no legitimate product can deliver.

• Guaranteed high returns with low risk
• Pressure to invest before a 'window closes'
• No AFSL number — check ASIC's register
• Money must go into crypto or an overseas account
• Advisors you met only on social media or dating apps

Fake job offers that ask for money upfront for 'training' or 'equipment', plus money-mule roles that use your account to move stolen funds.

• Interviews by message only, no real employer footprint
• Fees to apply, train, or get equipment
• Jobs that involve receiving and forwarding money
• Upfront payment via gift cards or crypto

A second scam on top of the first: 'recovery agents' contact people who have already lost money and charge a fee to 'get it back'. They can't.

• Unsolicited offers to recover lost funds
• Upfront fees before any recovery work
• Claims of special access to banks or police
• Pressure to keep it secret

Cold calls impersonating your bank, the ATO, NBN Co, or tech support — aiming to extract details, remote-access your device, or talk you into transfers.

• Caller claims urgent action to avoid a fine or hack
• Requests for remote-access software (AnyDesk, TeamViewer)
• Calls from 'the bank' asking you to read out codes
• Pressure to act while on the call

Fake romantic or friendship profiles — dating apps, social media, gaming — that build trust over weeks or months before an 'emergency' needs money.

• Declarations of love before meeting in person
• Always an excuse for video calls or meetings
• An emergency — medical, legal, travel — that needs money now
• Requests for gift cards, crypto, or 'help with fees'
• Never available to meet, ever

Hacked accounts, fake profiles, giveaway scams, and 'verification' bots that fish for your details through platforms you already trust.

• A friend's account sending odd links or money requests
• Giveaways that need a 'processing fee'
• Fake customer-support accounts replying to public posts
• Too-good-to-be-true ads from pages with no history

Smishing: fake parcel-delivery, toll, bank-alert, and 'you've won' texts with links that steal details or install malware on your phone.

• A link in a text you weren't expecting
• Urgent action required — your parcel, your toll bill, your account
• Sender numbers that look nothing like the real organisation
• Requests for codes, passwords, or payments by reply text

Fake police, ATO, or court officials threatening arrest, fines, or deportation unless you pay immediately — often by gift card or crypto.

• Threats of arrest or legal action out of the blue
• Payment demanded by gift cards, crypto, or wire transfer
• Caller demands you stay on the line
• No official paperwork through official channels

Lottery, inheritance, and 'free grant' messages telling you you've won money — but you need to pay a fee or tax first to release it. You never win.

• You don't remember entering any lottery
• Fees required to 'release' your winnings
• Requests for bank details to receive money
• News arrives via email or social media, not official channels

Fake online stores, lookalike bank or gov sites, and clone websites that take payment for goods or 'services' that never arrive.

• Domain that's a letter off the real site
• Rock-bottom prices and 'only a few left' countdowns
• No physical address or contact phone
• Payment only by crypto, wire, or unusual methods
• Brand-new site with zero reviews outside the site itself