Warning about insurance fraud

Check out our post on iPhone & Smartphone insurance fraud.

Use your commonsence when buying a second hand mobile phone – and any other similar items for that matter.

(Another similar situation I’ve personally heard of was a friend buying a second hand mobile on eBay, and then being contacted by the Police for using it – as it was stolen)

The world is full of sharks!

Social networking safe online guidelines

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) recently released a new fact sheet, Social networking: staying safe online, in support of the Federal Privacy Commission’s Privacy Awareness Week.

It highlights the need to remain vigilant about your online identify – and helps with tips for how to keep  safe.

“What are some of the key risks?”

• Fraud
• Online identity theft and reputation damage
• Cyberstalking and bullying
• Scams and spams
• Malicious software (malware)

“How can I better protect yourself?”

• Being aware of what these risks are
• Thinking carefully before you give away personal or financial information
• Reading the terms and conditions before you sign up to any social networking sites
• Checking privacy settings and making sure you know who can access your information
• Knowing where to go for help if you run into trouble or something goes wrong.

Find out more online at the ACMA site.

Online and Offline fraud

Have you recently:

• Won the lottery?
• Been awarded money from an unknown estate?
• Received an email from ‘your bank’ to log on and check your account details?

Of course, we probably all have in the last week. These are some of the very common types of email and online scams we are constantly bombarded with.

However, there are many more unknown scams always on the go.

How do we know how to protect ourselves?

Further to the AMTA warning released last week, the SCAMwatch website, run by ACCC, warns you about scams and provides information to protect yourself from rip offs, rats and scam artists. It also provides an avenue for reporting suspicious dealings.

Not only online scams, but also scams relating to medical, small business, employment, investment schemes and much more.

Remember the old adages:

• “forewarned is forearmed!”
• “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”

Your Input: Have you been scammed, tricked or ripped off in any way? Let us know

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ps Reminds me of the tram ticketing scams in places like Prague, that we were warned about, yet still forgot about until it happened to us!

Related: Tips for Responsible Online Shopping

“How secure is your identity with online forums & social networking sites?”

First we heard about signing over your privacy to the CIA when joining facebook, now we hear that it’s the organised crime groups that we need to worry about. Well, I guess that makes us feel a little safer if the agency is looking out for us?

Seriously though, we are sometimes too complacent with how much personal information we give away online. Details that are on social networking (and similar) sites, can be used to help pull together the missing pieces criminals need to steal our identity.

“What can you do?”

As much as is possible, lock down any online profiles (facebook, myspace, flickr, etc) to be viewable by your friends only; check the privacy section of each site – and as always, don’t action any requests or emails from unknown sources.

Read ninemsn story: Identities stolen with a click

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