Introduction

Technology is pervading almost every facet of our lives, including dating. There’s no doubt online dating has its advantages, but its growth has brought with it a dark side.

In 2021, 3.2 million Australians were using match-making apps; developers of these platforms raked in around $56 million. Little wonder crooks and scammers want a piece of the action – as Shayne found out.

At 24, tradie Shayne met the scammers’ demographic. After spotting a social media advertisement for free membership to a dating community, he signed up. text...

Introduction

In 2020 Australians reported over 7,000 investment scams to Scamwatch, well up on the 5,000 reported in 2019. Scamwatch recorded investment scam losses of $65.8 million, but add in notifications made to other government agencies and the major banks and reported losses across 2020 soared to $328 million. Due to embarrassment many losses go unreported so we may never know the full extent of the damage.

With a high likelihood that we will all be targeted by scammers at some stage, perhaps repeatedly, how can we identify scams and protect ourselves from losses?

Introduction

If you are over 50, male, highly educated, financially literate and manage your own super, beware. You’re at a higher risk of being the target (and victim) of organised investment fraud.

This isn’t necessarily because your demographic is particularly gullible. Rather, it’s because you’re more likely to control higher levels of wealth, perhaps as the trustee of a self-managed super fund (SMSF); you’re accustomed to making financial decisions; and you’re actively looking for attractive investment opportunities. What scammer wouldn’t want to target you?

Scams take many forms but when it comes to superannuation, two stand out:
1.    fraudulent investment schemes, and
2.    schemes offering early access to superannuation.

Either way, the result can be a major financial loss and dreams destroyed.

Introduction

Since the earliest days of commerce there have always been people prepared to commit fraud against others. With easy access to millions of people via the internet, modern fraud has increased the opportunities for the bad guys and heightened the risk for the innocent. We are all interested in making a better return on our investments but who can we really trust?