Contact Consumer Protection
Tel: 1300 30 40 54
consumer@dmirs.wa.gov.au
See all Consumer Protection office locations
With Acting Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard
Scammers are carrying out research into people at various organisations and either hacking computers or impersonating email accounts in a fraud known as a ‘man in the middle’ attack.
Consumer Protection and WA Police Major Fraud Squad warn anyone making payments to third parties to be aware of the increased frequency in attempts to intercept money.
Western Australian commercial businesses and not-for-profits have lost at least $500,000 over the last two years, according to reports made to WA ScamNet at Consumer Protection. In Queensland, Brisbane City Council lost $450,000 to this type of scam.
These attacks are sophisticated and may involve:
How to avoid being scammed
In some recent reports the targets realised before it was too late. You can learn from them.
Example 1:
Example 2:
Anyone impersonated or targeted may have been the victim of hacking. All parties need to have their devices checked by a reputable technician to ensure any spying software is removed and that protection, such as firewalls and anti-virus programs are up-to-date and working.
Organisations targeted by ‘man in the middle scams’ can report the details to WA ScamNet by calling 1300 30 40 54. In certain circumstances there may be a referral to police. Successful fraud attempts can be reported to WA Police Major Fraud Squad on 131 444.
Further details, including local victim case studies and tips to prevent an attack are at: www.scamnet.wa.gov.au/middleman. You do your bit in the fight against scammers by sharing that short link via social media or email. As you can appreciate the audience for this warning is huge, with literally all WA organisations at risk. We welcome any help we can get to spread the word to employees at any business, public sector workers in WA’s local and state government agencies, members of associations etc.
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