Over the past 18 months, we know Australians have been spending more time online to connect with family and friends, run their businesses and seek entertainment. Scammers know this too, and they have become even more sophisticated.
Scams can happen anywhere and any time: by phone, text, or online. They use tactics like adapting to real-time events (like tax time, the COVID-19 pandemic, or elections), and are very effective at imitating real organisations.
While some of these scam techniques are not unique to Facebook, we want to do more to help our community spot these commonplace scams on our platforms. To help get the word out, we’re partnering with a national identity and cyber support service, IDCARE, and the pet scam prevention organisation, Puppy Scam Awareness Australia, to use our platform to raise awareness about scams.
As part of Scamwatch’s Scams Awareness Week, we’re launching a new scams awareness campaign to help people identify the seven most common types of online scams, and provide tips on how to avoid them.
In addition to the campaign, we’ve supported IDCARE to promote its Cyber Resilience Outreach Centre (CROC) program across our platforms. The CROC program will take mobile cyber clinics to remote and rural locations in Australia, and provide scam and cyber threat and account protection training. The CROC program began in October and will deliver up to 50 clinics across Australia.
We are also supporting IDCARE and Puppy Scam Awareness Australia to promote their work across our platforms so that Australians know where to report scams and access support.
If you think you’ve identified a scam on Facebook or Instagram, you can report it by clicking the ‘Report post’ or ‘Report photo’ button. You can find more information on how to report a scam to Facebook.
If you have lost personal information to a scammer and are concerned, you can contact IDCARE at https://www.idcare.org/
If you have fallen victim to a puppy scam, you can contact Puppy Scam Awareness Australia at https://www.puppyscamawarenessaustralia.com.au/
If you think your Facebook account may have been hacked, please also visit our Hacked Wizard page.
IDCARE.org provides a community support service when responding to scams, identity theft, and cybercrimes. IDCARE specialist services address device and personal information risks to build and promote confidence and resilience online.
Puppy Scams Awareness Australia (PSAA) is a dedicated organisation that brings awareness to the thousands of pet scamming syndicates that prey on pet shoppers. PSAA aims to help puppy shoppers spot a scammer and we help scammed victims through community support.