Eliza Bavin* says Services Australia has issued scam warnings on impersonators.
Services Australia has warned Aussies about fake social media profiles posing as Centrelink, myGov, Medicare and even Services Australia employees.
Services Australia said the fake profiles were asking Aussies to share their personal information with them.
“More and more scammers are creating social media profiles impersonating us and other government agencies,” Services Australia said.
“Scammers will set up accounts to look like Services Australia, myGov, Medicare, Centrelink or even our employees.
“These accounts will look convincing, but will have little differences in the name or the spelling of the username.”
Services Australia said the accounts had messaged Aussies offering help or assistance, but in reality they were aiming to steal your information.
How to tell if a profile is a scam
Services Australia reminded Aussies it would never engage users via direct messages or private chats on social media because they were not secure ways to share information.
“We won’t ask you to share personal information like your customer reference number (CRN), address, phone number or email address via social media,” it said.
“We have a list of our verified social media accounts on our website.
“If the account isn’t on that list, then it isn’t us.”
What to do if you spot a fake social media profile
Services Australia said it was working with social media platforms to ensure the impersonators were stamped out.
“If you spot a social media profile pretending to be us, you can report it using the platform’s reporting system,” it said.
“Remember, it’s important to look for signs that you may be engaging with a scammer.
“If you identify a scammer, don’t respond.”
*Eliza Bavin, Personal Finance Editor, is a senior journalist focusing on economics, personal finance and company news amongst other things.
This article first appeared at au.finance.yahoo.com
