The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has been put in the unusual position of warning advisers and consumers not to respond if they are contacted by … ASIC.
While Professional Planner received this information in a media release from an organisation purporting to be the regulator, clearly all is not as it appears.
The real regulator has urged the public to be wary of brazen scammers, based offshore, who impersonate ASIC and often target individuals who have previously been defrauded.
The callers claim to be able to assist in retrieving money lost in an earlier software scam. They may quote an Australian Business Number, claim to also represent Microsoft and, in order to receive any funds, ask victims to provide access to their computer or complete an online form.
ASIC advises anyone who is contacted to hang up.
“We suspect that this scam is the latest attempt by fraudsters to obtain your personal details or trick you into paying money to them,” said ASIC commissioner Peter Kell (right).
“We ask the public to be wary of calls like these and we encourage them to conduct some basic checks before acting on an email or phone call out of the blue.”
The regulator added that advisers should ensure that their clients are aware of the warning signs if a caller or sender pretends to be from a real business, government agency or financial organisation, and claiming they are entitled to a compensation payment.
“If the caller or sender claims to be from a government agency or financial institution, remember that government departments and financial institutions would never ask you for your personal details via email or text message,” said ASIC in a statement.
“If you’ve provided your bank account or credit card details to a scammer, contact your bank or financial institution immediately.”
