According to the recent RACQ survey, one in 10 Queenslanders have fallen victim to a scam, with the same number not confident they could identify a scam.

RACQ Head of Bank Resilience Sarah Richardson said scams could be particularly enticing this time of year when people were shopping for Christmas gifts and on the hunt for bargains.

“Scammers prey on busy people, so this time of year people are generally more susceptible to scams as they rush to finish their Christmas shopping or book a summer holiday,” Ms Richardson said. 

“Scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated and these days there’s a scam for almost every way we communicate, but fortunately there are simple precautions you can take to reduce your risk.”

To help the community stay vigilant, RACQ Bank has developed some tips to help avoid some of the newest and most-frequently encountered scams for each method of communication.

While scam activity is expected to be heightened over the Christmas period, Ms Richardson encouraged people to remain vigilant throughout the year.

“In the past 12 months alone, RACQ Bank has recovered $444,000 for its members that would otherwise have been lost to scams,” Ms Richardson said.

“We encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with ways to protect themselves from scammers and to contact their bank or financial institution immediately if they have concerns about scam activity.”

In addition to remaining vigilant, Queenslanders can also protect themselves and the wider community by reporting scams to scamwatch.gov.au.

How to have yourself a scam free Christmas:

Websites
Fake online shopping websites are a common form of scam around Christmas time, with fraudsters imitating websites of popular retailers.

Stay protected: Look out for red flags including unusual URL’s, very large discounts, missing information, poor spelling and non-secure payment methods. 

Email
Similar to online shopping scams, scammers will try to catch you off guard this Christmas season with phishing emails to steal your information and money. These emails are designed to look genuine, and often copy the format used by the organisation the scammer is pretending to represent, including their branding and logo.

Stay protected: Never open unsolicited emails and look at the sender’s email address to see if it belongs to the company to determine if it’s real.

Phone
With many people sending and receiving parcels around Christmas time, scammers will often call or text people pretending to be logistics or parcel services.  This message will claim that a parcel could not be delivered to you and will likely request your personal details and payment information to redeliver the parcel in exchange for a fee.

Stay protected: If you are in doubt about the authenticity of a call or text message, don’t commit to anything. Call the company directly using their official customer service number to verify that it is genuine. 

Text Message
Like the phone example above, you may receive a text asking you to click on a link about a delivery you aren’t expecting.

Stay protected: If you are in doubt about the authenticity of a call or text message, don’t commit to anything. Call the company directly using their official customer service number to verify that it is genuine.

Social Media
Social media scammers target users by pretending to be legitimate retailers or real people selling goods online on online marketplaces. The products are usually listed for sale at significantly lower prices and may request payment through direct bank transfer or cryptocurrency.  Once they have received your money, their account disappears, leaving you without the purchased goods and no way to collect them. 

Stay protected: If an offer appears too good to be true, it probably is.  Always buy gifts from an official source and avoid using payment methods you’re not comfortable with. 

*Survey findings from RACQ Quarterly Consumer Omnibus, FY24 Q2, n=405.