As more cyber attacks and data breaches make the news, you may be wondering how this could affect you. Personal information falling into the hands of scammers can make you a target of increasingly sophisticated and convincing scams.
With a large amount of personal information having been stolen from customers of national organisations, it's important to remain vigilant.
If scammers are armed with personal information, it makes it easier for them to find and target you with personalised scam attempts. You may be experiencing an increased number of scam calls or messages, some of which may start to include your personal information to sound more legitimate.
Examples of scams targeting victims:
- A text from scammers claiming to be a streaming service or subscription, asking you to click a link to udpate your card details.
- A message claiming you have unpaid tolls or fines, urging you to click a link to make payment.
- "Hi Mum" messages from scammers impersonating family members. These start as a casual conversation, tell you they have broken or lost their phone, and asking you to remove their old number from your phone. They will generally carry on casual conversation before asking for money to help pay a bill or other urgent expense.
It can be convincing to go with your first instinct, to click a link to look at an overdue fine, or to send money to help a family member in need - but it's important to take a moment to think about the situation. Instead of clicking a potentially hamrful link to update your card details, you could instead log into your streaming service through the official website and review your details there. Or simply call your family member on their usual phone number to verify whether they have really lost their phone.
Never feel pressured to provide information, visit a link, or make a payment. Scammers will often pressure you and hope that you will make a mistake in a panic, but in reality, you always have time to walk away, ask for advice or investigate the claims before you act.
Protect yourself and stay informed
If you have any concerns that you may have received a suspicious call or text, clicked on a suspicious link, or provided your personal information to a scammer, please contact your local branch as soon as you can.
As another layer of protection, GMCU has an internal fraud department and an external card and NPP monitoring department that will assist with monitoring any suspicious transactions.
For the latest information and advice on staying safe from scams, you can visit the following government websites.
To find out more about staying safe online, click here.
