Scams - safety and security
"When it comes to scams and cybercrime, knowledge is power.” — NSW Fair Trading
About 80% of scams reported to Scamwatch come from people pretending to be real organisations. These scams often arrive by phone, email, text, or social media.
What to watch for
- Unwanted contact from people you don’t know.
- Messages that pressure you to act now.
- Requests for money, bank details, passwords or your tax/Medicare info.
- Links to websites that look real but are not
How to stay safe
- Don’t click links in emails, texts or messages you didn’t ask for.
- Don’t give personal or bank details by message or on a site you opened from a link.
- Go to the official website yourself by typing the address or searching for it.
- Check website links. Government websites end in .gov.au (for example: https://my.gov.au).
- If a phone call sounds like a scam, hang up and call the organisation back using a number from their official website.
- Use different passwords for important accounts and turn on two-factor authentication where you can.
If you think you clicked a bad link or gave information
- Close the website or message.
- Change your passwords, especially for email and bank accounts.
- Contact your bank right away if you gave bank details.
- Run an antivirus scan on your device.
Stay informed
Keep up to date with the latest scam alerts and advice:
Report
- If it’s an emergency or someone is in danger, call 000.
- To report a cybercrime, go to ReportCyber.
- To tell Scamwatch about a scam, go to Scamwatch.