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Latest scams

See the latest scams targeting your personal and business information.

Report a scam

Latest scams

Latest scams

Common scams

Other scams

Latest scams

Investment scams

An investment scam involves either an email or a celebrity endorsed Facebook ad that encourages you to invest money or buy bitcoin. Scammers rely on you not doing your due diligence when making the investment, and sometimes offer a small return on your initial investment to put you at ease. Here’s what to look out for:

  • Emails or ads asking you to click on a link
  • Prompts to enter your personal and bank details
  • Direct messages from people on social media asking you to invest
  • Someone claiming to be a broker but not providing their Australian Financial Services Licence and/or not able to meet in person or on video
  • Facebook posts tagging people that feature a photo of a celebrity.

Impersonation scams

Scammers impersonate genuine institutions using marketing materials with company logos, as well as staff names and their departments, to gain access to your bank accounts, have you approve transactions or changes to your account, or offer investment opportunities.

Scammers often lead with competitive rates and include fake offer-ending dates to create a sense of urgency. Confirm legitimacy by checking the organisation’s website or contacting them directly.

Here’s what to look out for:

  • Unsolicited emails that offer investment opportunities from fake email addresses
  • Personalised links and/or pop-ups on websites and social media
  • Investment rates that seem too good to be true and have an end date
  • Attempts to gain your trust, with suggestions of what to say to your bank
  • Requests for multiple payments to be made as ‘deposits’ to set-up an account
  • Requests for personal banking details, including your account details, password and one-time step-up code.
Screenshot of scam content
Screenshot of scam content

Phishing scams

Phishing scams use threats of fines or unpaid bills to get you to act quickly, encouraging you to provide your personal information without thinking about it. They often pretend to be from larger, well-established organisations to gain your trust and will attempt to steal your online banking logins and credit card details. Whilst they will send throughout the year, they tend to be more active during periods of higher consumer spending – like Black Friday or pre-Christmas.

Here’s what to look out for:

  • Text messages or emails with a sense of urgency, where there is a penalty for not taking action
  • Links that don’t match the genuine organisations web address
  • Requests to hand over personal details including a one-time SMS or email code
  • Unfamiliar postal, delivery or courier services
  • Requests to renew subscriptions.

Common scams

A mail delivery scam attempts to access your card details via email and SMS by claiming to be from a postal delivery service. The email prompts you to pay for shipping costs for a parcel delivery, providing a link to a fake website which asks you to enter your card and personal details. Phishing websites are designed to look like legitimate companies, but have a different URL (hover over the URL to check the full address and check to see if there is a padlock next to https).

The SMS version of this scam claims that a parcel has been kept at a sorting office for you. It also contains a link to a fake website to try and prompt you to pay a fee to release the parcel. If you receive either of these messages, don’t click on the link or respond.

This involves scammers sending a fake SMS pretending to be from PayPal. The SMS claims that you’ve made a purchase on your PayPal account and gives you a number to call which connects you with the scammer directly. This is when they’ll ask you for your card details and SMS code (they might even know the last 4 digits of your card).

These texts come from ‘GOV’ or ‘MyGov’, with suspicious links to more information.

Ensure you log into your MyGov account from the website and not the link, and ignore the sense of urgency to provide your details that scammers create.

Phone spoofing involves scammers hiding their identity by replacing their number with another number, so that you believe you’re being contacted by a recognised caller.

The callers will often say they’re from a security team, and that they’ve detected fraud on your account or need your help to catch a scammer.

Remember – we’ll never ask you for any of your banking details or login info, or to download anything. If you’re concerned, call us on a verified number from a genuine source like our website.

Also called a ‘flu-bot’ scam, these involve a text message from a random number notifying you of a new voicemail. The text provides a link to click to access the voicemail, usually with spelling errors and unusual URLs. Clicking the link could lead to malware downloads on your phone.

NBN calls
An example of a cold call scam, this involves receiving a call from scammers claiming to fix your NBN and asking for remote access to your computer or internet connection to help fix the problem. What the scammers will be doing is trying to have you log onto your online banking and transfer funds from your account. End a call if someone asks you to give them access to your devices and contact us immediately.

ATO calls

Common around end of financial year, this is where scammers call you claiming to be from the ATO. They may ask you to provide your personal details for verification, notify you of an outstanding debt, or request bank account details for payments or refunds. They may also threaten you with prison if you don’t provide details. Be sure not to provide any information and report it directly through the ATO website.

This is where scammers call customers and pose as us to request card details. If you receive a call like this, make sure you don’t give out any details and hang up straight away.

Scammers email or phone you pretending to be from Amazon, asking for a refund and prompting you to give your card details. Be sure not to provide any information and report it directly through to Amazon.

If you’ve followed any of these links or think a scammer has your details, get in touch with us immediately.

Scammers pretend to be a part of our fraud department, fto help with an internal investigation.

They ask you to confirm the amount of money in your account and to withdraw cash to deposit at another bank. The scammer also asks you not to speak to anyone, so you don’t tip off the employee being investigated.

If you’ve received a call like this, don’t provide any of your details. If you already have, call us on immediately 13 17 19. Remember, we’ll never ask a customer to participate in an internal investigation or transfer money to another financial institution on our behalf.

This email comes from an unauthorised source posing as us with the subject line such as ‘Bankwest Suspension Notification’. Once opened, it asks you to fill out an attached form which provides the scammer with your details.

If you’ve received an email like this, don’t open the attachment or provide any of your details. If you already have, call us on 13 17 19.

These emails come from scammers posing as us, attempting to lure you into providing your bank details by clicking on specific links.

These emails could ask you to click on a link to avoid having your card suspended or asks you to log in to online banking to see a new ‘SecureMail’ message.

If you’ve received emails like these, don’t click the links or provide any of your details. If you already have, call us immediately on 13 17 19.

Other scams

This phishing scam targets users on accommodation sites like Booking.com. People receive a message from official website email addresses like ‘noreply@booking.com’ or from the messaging function within the booking app, claiming that a booking will be cancelled if they don’t input credit card details through a provided link.

The message or email is typically received when a customer has recently booked accommodation, is due to check-in, or has already checked in.

If you've received a message or email that doesn't seem genuine or includes an urgent call to action, don’t click the link or share any personal information.

This scam involves an iPhone giveaway across Facebook, Instagram, Google and YouTube. You’ll see a pop-up on your screen promising you a free iPhone for a small delivery fee, which then links to a fake website that prompts you to enter your card and personal details. Alternatively, you might be asked to complete a survey to receive the iPhone. Be sure to ignore these pop-ups.

Scammers claim that your Bankwest card is blocked and ask you to click on a link to unblock it. The link takes you a fake version of online banking, which takes your details after you log in. It then shows a form asking for some personal and account info.

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