Woolworths Used To Lure You In:
It seems that the Christmas scamming spree has begun early this year, with three major scams cropping up over the last three weeks. First it was the Australian Tax Office, then it was Qantas and now it’s Woolworths… actually we should say that it wasn’t them, but fraudsters from around the globe pretending to be them.
The Woolworths scam is a very clever one and, if you take a look at the article released by News.com.au, you’ll even see some screenshots of how legitimate the whole thing looks. You can see the original Woolworths Scam article by clicking here.
So how does the Woolworths Scam work, exactly?
Cleverly disguised as a customer satisfaction survey, the fraudsters in this case send bulk emails out as a phishing scam – hoping that those who do regularly shop at Woolworths would be enticed by the promise of a $50 reward for completing the survey.
The catch? Ok, while the email and the corresponding survey that you’re directed to after clicking the seemingly real link look very professional and almost impossible to spot as a scam, at the end of the survey you’ll be asked to enter your credit card details. The claim is that your card details will be used to as the payment account to which your $50 reward will be sent, however, just like all scams, the complete opposite is in fact what’s going to happen… yep, they’re just going to drain your account and walk away with the lot.
We would like to point out something crucial when it comes to scams like these, that everyone should know and be able to pick up on instantly to determine whether an email is fake or not, especially if it’s supposedly coming from a reputable source, such as Woolworths, Qantas or the Australian Tax Office. Not many people pick up on it, for some reason, but here’s the major tip:
If you ever see that a price is displayed with the currency AFTER the number, for example, 50$ as opposed to $50, it’s a very good indication that the person who sent that email is not Westernised… as we all know, in Australia and pretty much every developed country around the world, the currency is noted before the sum.
We say this because as you’ll see from the screenshots shared by News.com.au, the initial email that people received with the promise of the $50 reward, described the prize as 50$. Instant alarm bells, right there.
The ACCC asks that anyone experiencing or receiving scam or fraud-related emails should immediately contact Scam Watch, Australia’s foremost anti-scam agency. You can contact them directly by calling 1300 795 995.
Now, while we would like you to inform Scam Watch of what’s been happening to you, they are usually very busy dealing with the thousands upon thousands of enquiries they receive everyday and, while they will tend to your matters, it is unfortunately quite unlikely that they will be able to help you recover your losses if you’ve already sent your card details off.
Precise Investigation, on the other hand, can help you. Depending on the nature of the scam and how much you’ve lost, it may be worthwhile considering hiring one of our specialist recovery experts to assist you in getting your stolen money back. For the most up-to-date information and to enable us to form a realistic approach to your situation, we ask that you get in touch with us and explain what’s happened.
Call Precise Investigation today on 1300 856 011 for a professional, Private Investigation Service
Precise Investigation’s three decades’ experience as one of Australia’s leading Private Investigation firms has allowed us to become acutely aware of how to approach any number of situations, whether international, national, regional or local and it’s our utmost priority to ensure that our customers needs are reflected in our actions.
We have operatives stationed throughout the country, so whether you’re in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide or even the more remote areas of the country, it’s great to know that you can have a professional PI pay you a visit at a moment’s notice. So get in touch with us today and see what we can do for you.
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Image credit: Thank you Wikipedia: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
