“Throughout my time at RACQ I’ve had a variety of roles, but my passion for scam awareness led me to leading our First Line Risk and Compliance and Financial Crimes team as Head of Bank Resilience,” Sarah said.

“There is no typical day in the office for me which is what attracted me to the role in the first place. 

“The best part about my job is collaborating with incredible teams across RACQ to deliver the very best outcomes for our members.”

A key focus for Sarah’s team is to raise awareness about scam activity. 

“Scams are so prevalent in our lives and are constantly evolving,” she said.

“We strive to keep our members up to date so they can feel empowered when handling their transactional banking.”

Scams Awareness Week 2023 takes place from 27 November – 1 December and this year the focus is on identifying and preventing impersonation scams.

“Don’t assume people are who they say they are,” Sarah said.

“Scammers will try to trick you into thinking they are from an organisation you can trust, such as the government, the police, or other well-known businesses.”

“With Scamwatch reporting three in every four reports relating to impersonation, this week is a great reminder to ensure you are taking preventative measures to protect your personal information.”

You can protect yourself by:

• Checking a message is legitimate by contacting the person or organisation directly using contact details found on their website.
• Hanging up on anyone trying to make you feel rushed, pressured or intimidated into making a decision.
• Never clicking on suspicious links in text messages or emails.
• Keeping an eye on slight variations in caller ID, including dots, special characters or numbers.
• Never allow remote access to your computer

“I always go back to the classic line – if something seems too good to be true, it probably is,” Sarah said.

When Sarah isn’t spotting scams, you’ll find her tapping into her creative side, when the time allows.

“I fancy myself a bit of an artist and love to paint with oils or watercolours,” she said.

“However, with two young children it can be a little challenging to find the time.”

If you detect any suspicious activity in your banking transactions call us immediately on 13 1905.