Gotcha!

SHERYL DIXIT relates an experience of winning and losing…just in time!

“Congratulations! You’ve won 400,000 Hong Kong dollars!” said the lady’s voice at the other end of the phone, with well-stimulated excitement. Straining to hear her over a whining toddler and The Wiggles belting out one of their best on TV, it wasn’t surprising that I thought I had heard wrong. But when the next day, she called to confirm that I was a winner, I had to take a deep breath. But once she hung up after noting my email address, reason, as is inevitable, returned to her throne and my natural scepticism took over.

Now I have to admit, easy money doesn’t come my way. It has always the plodding path of honest toil and I haven’t won anything more exciting than a couple of soaps or lines at housie in my entire life.

Curiosity compelled me to check my email for the promised ‘receipt’, which would enable me to “claim the prize money”. When I saw the receipt on my gmail e-address, I laughed out loud. The website and email of the company, which was of some obscure sounding Far Eastern origin, was suffixed with a Yahoo address, the biggest blunder any dubious company could make, particularly when offering obscene amounts of money for free.

I realised ruefully, that I’d been scammed.

Indignant at having been duped (well, nearly), I found the SCAMwatch Australia site (www.scamwatch.gov.au), and called them. An unsurprised lady heard my story and asked me a few pertinent questions. Did you give away your personal email address? No, fortunately! Did you send them any money for processing fees, or disclose your bank account details? Of course not! Then she calmly asked me to check one of their web pages, and to my surprise, there it was! The exact same fraud which I had experienced, named the ‘Casino’ scam, which called dupes like me, asking for answers three questions as a part of a tele-survey. After the questions, I was told that I would get a free IPod for my time, and a free entry into a draw where the first prize was a BMW, the second 400,000 Hong Kong dollars. The next day I was called, ostensibly from a crowded location, and told that I had won the second prize.

The helpful lady at SCAMwatch specified that if I had gone ahead with providing my details, I would have been asked to send the company a processing or transfer fee, and if I complied, I would have never seen my money again.

These days, there are scams for everything and its aunt under the sun. The Little Black Book of Scams published by The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission lists scams for everything, from lotteries, sweepstakes and competitions; chain letters and pyramid scams; investment opportunities and money transfer scams; betting and computer prediction software ones; banking, credit card and online account scams; internet and mobile phone scams. And let’s not forget, health and medical ones, psychic and clairvoyant, dating and romance scams, even charity scams. There are door-to-door scams, job and employment ones and even small business scams – and they are all active, in some form or the other. It seems like a lucrative financial opportunity for your resident conman, so beware of the lure of easy money.

The SCAMwatch booklet is a helpful little guide, with a few golden rules to help you beat the scammers: Always get independent advice if an offer involves money, time or commitment Or talk to a hard-core sceptic. I called my husband, and what he said is not fit for innocent ears, or any ears for that matter. In language that was colourful and imaginative, he explained to me at the risk of busting my eardrums, exactly what he thought of my intellect, their audacity and just about stopped short of calling 000 to complain.

There are no guaranteed get-rich-quick schemes – the only people who make money are the scammers. Now this is something we don’t like to hear; and if we believed it, Lotto and scratchies wouldn’t exist. Every normal human being, at some stage of life, wishes to stumble over that elusive pot of moolah! Just don’t get carried away and remember what you learned at your mother’s knee, about hard work and perseverance being rewards enough. Do not agree to offers or deals straightaway. If you think you have spotted a great opportunity, insist on time to get independent advice before making a decision. Which is why the internet is a great tool, particularly for researching what may seem like sound organisations, but which may turn out to be elaborate duds.

Do not rely on glowing testimonials; find solid evidence of a company’s success Same as above, really. Ask, call, investigate. Don’t take the person’s assurances at face value. Log direction on to a website that you are interested in, rather than clicking on links provided in an email. Which can obviously be rigged. In my case, the Chinese company

Free prize

Free prize

quoted did have a legitimate business, they supplied casino equipment globally. And that was the only connection. Never send money or give credit card or online account details to anyone you do not know and trust. I would add, never give anyone you don’t trust your personal email id, unless it’s a Yahoo or Gmail one, as access to your computer could well mean access to the information stored on it. One can never be too careful, particularly in this day and age of rampant internet fraud.

If you spot a scam or have been scammed, get help. Contact the Office of Fair Trading in your state or territory, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for assistance. There are numbers for each state; call 133220 in NSW or visit www.fairtrading. nsw.gov.au

And remember, anyone can become a target for fraud. Soon it will be people calling, asking you to invest in blue chip companies or real estate in India. They will have impeccable credentials, will be suave and friendly, and will assure you that they have your best interests at heart. Be sceptical. Thoroughly check every bit of information provided, and ask family back home to make further inquiries, before parting with your hard-earned cash. Jealously protect your identity; never send money to anyone whom you don’t know or trust; ask for identification – website details, contact details, even an ABN number. Don’t disclose your credit card, personal or online banking details over the phone and delete suspicious emails instead of unsubscribing.

And lastly, invest in a good internet security software program that helps filter out all the spam and protects your computer from hidden viruses and unwanted programs. This is specially true for people who fall into the lure of ‘free’ downloads of movies and songs, which could install harmful programs onto your computer without you knowing.

I am still waiting for my free IPod, and I have a feeling that the wait will be a long, long one.

A bitter bargain

I was driving through Victoria Road atWest Ryde. A man in a white van asked me if I wanted to buy a good Pioneer home theatre system worth $6000, for just $500. He said his boss had accidently put an extra one in the delivery van and he was out to make a quick buck by selling the piece. I examined the product carefully and it seemed genuine. The box even had a picture of the UEFA Cup on it, and thinking it was a good bargain, I bought it outright and was excited about getting a good system for cheap.

But I was completely fooled, because when I opened the amplifier box, all it contained was a metal box.

I looked on the internet and these people have a website, but to contact them you have to submit your contact details; theirs are nowhere to be found.

Well, I couldn’t do much, but recently my cousin who lives in West Ryde called me to say that someone was selling him a home theatre system for $1500, and he was keen on buying it. I immediately told him to say no to them, and to save himself. I checked the description of the product and it exactly matches the one I bought. These guys do such a professional job, it is difficult to get them. I think these people are fooling us and getting lucky. My story is about four months old, but they still seem to be doing good business and getting targets. They are professional in their approach and sound genuine, but are not.

My intention is to let as many people know about this so that they can avoid being conned as well.

Gaurav Kumar, West Ryde, NSW