Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to the very active Marino and Kingston Park Neighbourhood Watch AGM by the president Darren Bailhache. We had speakers from the RSPCA speak about their role in animal rescues and in animal protection, and then we heard from Senior Constable Matt Robinson from Sturt Police Station on the topic of scams. We heard about a wide range of scams, largely of the online and phone variety—romance scams, investment and cryptocurrency scams, gift card scams, parcel delivery scams, bill payment scams and nude photo blackmail scams—and, most concerningly, that some scammers can now use technology that masks the number they are calling from. Instead, it looks like they are calling from a known number, a number you trust.

The take-home message we had from this was: if you get a text message, don't click on the link. Your bank or utility company will not address you as 'dear sir', 'dear madam', 'dear homeowner' or 'dear business'. They know who you are. You can mouse over links without clicking and see where they really go. When in doubt, hang up, don't answer the text message, look up the contact details separately and call them or email back. The inconvenience of going through the main switchboard or call centre is much better than losing money. An active Neighbourhood Watch can reduce local crime by as much as 28 per cent, and I'd encourage people to get involved in their local Neighbourhood Watch.

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