Online fraud is the jurisdiction of the state or territory police if the victim is a not a Commonwealth Government department or a Commonwealth Authority.
The Australian Federal Police investigates frauds committed against a Commonwealth Government department or a Commonwealth Authority.
In general, state or territory police jurisdiction exists:
If you are a victim of online fraud you should report it to your local police, who should:
You will need to ensure that you preserve any electronic evidence relating to the matter, including emails and any relevant computer logs. If you can, please copy this information to a CD or DVD and take it to the police station when you report the matter.
The AHTCC recommends that you print out the above advice and present it to your local police when you report the matter.
There are many types of online fraud.
Internet banking fraud is fraud or theft committed using online technology to illegally remove money from, or transfer it to, a different bank account. Phishing is an activity that facilitates Internet Banking Fraud.
The term 'phishing' refers to the use of spam e-mails purporting to be from a financial institution such as a bank or credit union, in this way criminals 'fish' for legitimate bank customer's logon information. Criminals send out millions of these fraudulent e-mails to random e-mail addresses in the hope of luring unsuspecting innocent persons into providing their personal banking details.
See more information on Phishing.
In order to decrease the risk of online fraud happening to you when using online auction sites or conducting transactions over the Internet, you should familiarise yourself with the advice provided by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
This can be found by visiting www.accc.gov.au, and selecting 'Internet shopping' in the Consumer Rights section of their homepage. Specific advice relating to Internet auctions is also available at the site.
Regarding online transactions, it is advisable to select an escrow (secure payment) service yourself rather than accept advice from the seller. Do not click on links to banking or escrow services provided in emails as these may lead to fraudulent sites.
If you receive a suspect email, the best course of action is to delete it immediately. Do not follow any links, or reply to the sender. By following a link, you may accidentally download a 'Trojan' or 'key logging' program, which could compromise your security. By replying, you run the risk of receiving more emails from this source.
The AHTCC encourages you to protect yourself online. For advice about how this can be done, visit www.netalert.net.au.
'Nigerian letter' or '419' scams, as well as 'lottery' or 'Spanish lottery' scams, attempt to lure victims into a type of fraud known as an 'illegal advance fee'. They typically arrive via email.
Criminals send out millions of these fraudulent spam emails to random email addresses in the hope of enticing someone to respond.
Although the stories in these scams vary widely, after an initial exchange of conversation or emails with the victim, they all usually ask victims to provide bank account or personal details in order to receive a fictitious financial windfall.
The promised windfall may be lottery winnings, a huge inheritance, a multi-million dollar bank transfer, etc. While the windfall payment is never made, victims pay large sums of money to cover various false costs and fees.
As a general rule, we recommend that you apply the standard 'physical world' test to any online proposition: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You can learn more about scams at www.scamwatch.gov.au.
