Letter scams are still around

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is warning the community to remain aware of scam letters in the mail as part of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce’s “Fraud Fortnight”.

James McCormack Director of the AFP Australian High Tech Crime Centre said emails are the most common form of scams these days but scam letters via the post still occur all too frequently.

“The letters look legitimate and generally have various contact details listed. Most letters claim that you could inherit thousands of dollars from a distant relative who has passed away and all you have to do is provide your bank account details.”

“To check if the letter is legitimate you can contact the company through a known number. Never use the contact details provided on the letter. The best thing to do is to throw the letter out because if it is too good to be true, it probably is,” he said.

“Deceptive scams involve criminals pretending to be from legitimate companies, who then request information that will allow them to profit from their fraud.”

Fraud Fortnight runs from 24 February to 8 March and aims to raise awareness about seductive and deceptive scams. To find out more about scams and to report scams visit www.scamwatch.gov.au or call SCAMwatch on 1300 795 995.

“I encourage consumers who have been the subject of a scam to fill out a scam survey on the Australian Institute of Criminology website. Gathering this information will help agencies such as ours improve the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of scam offenders,” Mr McCormack said.

The website is: www.aic.gov.au/surveys/acft.

Fraud Fortnight is an initiative of the Australasian Consumer Fraud Taskforce. Established in March 2005, the taskforce is comprised of 19 federal and state government regulatory agencies and departments that have a responsibility for consumer protection in relation to frauds and scams.