Scam alert as election looms

BENDIGO Bank has warned customers to be vigilant in the lead up to the Federal Election, cautioning that calls and texts from apparent campaign representatives may not be legitimate.

Senior manager customer protection at Bendigo Bank Aaron Westberry said scammers may pose as government agencies, political parties and representatives, or financial institutions, using phone calls, emails, text messages or even door-knocking to trick people into handing over their personal details.

“Be on the lookout for anyone soliciting personal information for electoral roll updates, requesting donations, and of course, warning of fraudulent activity on your bank accounts,” he said.

“Scammers never sleep, (and) they’re likely to be working overtime in the lead up to 3 May, as we often see that criminals exploit things like major events or seasonal occasions to create urgency and pressure people into making quick decisions.

“Our message is always to stop, think and protect before sharing personal details or making payments.”

In the last financial year, Bendigo Bank prevented an estimated $34.4 million in fraudulent transactions, protecting customers and safeguarding systems with a variety of cyber-crime prevention methods including unusual account detection measures, increased warnings and risk-based payment delays.

“We are continually updating protections to try to stay ahead of the scammers, but by working together with our customers, we can even further reduce the incidence of scams and fraud,” Mr Westberry said.

“(For example), we recently prevented a Victorian customer from losing more than $900,000 to an impersonation scam. Our systems stopped suspicious transactions and we were able to contact (them) while they were still on the phone to the scammer and shut down (the) scam in action.”